Six men die every year in Orange from prostate cancer.
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It is the second highest cause of cancer-related deaths behind lung cancer in western NSW.
The prostate cancer specialist nurse in Orange Lindy Ostini said she was aware of at least 30 men in Orange currently undergoing various levels of treatment for prostate cancer.
And she said the actual number of men in Orange would be a lot higher.
Ms Ostini urged men to speak to their doctors about prostate cancer and have checks for it.
“It’s virtually just a simple blood test for men,” she said.
“The recommendation is to discuss it with your doctor.
“Around 50 [years] men should be doing a blood test to monitor the condition.
“Awareness is the key. It’s important to be aware.
“It’s quite treatable if it is caught early.
“But once it spreads outside the prostate area it is not cureable. People die from it.”
She said exercise helped reduce the risk of contracting prostate cancer.
Ms Ostini runs a clinic at the Cancer Care Centre at the Orange Health Service where men can go [call 6369 3380] with or without a referral from their doctor.
She said it was particularly prevalent in older men.
“Age is a definite indicator,” she said.
Ms Ostini said health education campaigns had helped reduce the number of people dying from it.
She said the rate of deaths from people with prostate cancer had decreased from 35 per cent to six per cent over the past 20 years.
“Men are more aware of their general health today.”
The latest figures [2012] from the Cancer Institute NSW on cancer incidence showed that the rate of men with prostate cancer in Orange was 72.5 men per 100,000.
That is lower than the NSW average of 87.9 people per 100,000.
However the number in Orange who die from it is 12.9 people per 100,000, which is higher than the NSW average of 11. 7 people per 100,000.
On average six people in Orange die every year from prostate cancer which was the equal highest in the region with Dubbo and higher than Bathurst, five, Cabonne, three, and Blayney one.