WARRENSVILLE HEIGHTS, Ohio — The colors of red and white flooded the inside of the Cleveland Marriott East on Friday for Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporated’s 72nd East Central Regional Conference.
While this is a time for fellowship, Rebecca Miller says it’s also a convenient time for men to get screened for prostate cancer.
“Every man that gets screened is like a reward to us,” said Miller, who is the Project Director for the Cleveland African American Prostate Cancer Project.
The fraternity partnered with Miller and the team leading the Cleveland African American Prostate Cancer Project (CAAPP) to host Friday’s community prostate screening for men like Robert Coggins.
“It was personal for me; my father was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2016,” said Coggins.
The 40-year-old tells News 5 his dad is now in remission thanks to his proactiveness.
“He went in for a screening and that’s when he found out that he was diagnosed with it,” said Coggins.
Now, Coggins says he wants to follow in his dad’s footsteps and get checked early, too.
“I just want to be an example. Again, I know with black men 40 and up, going to the doctor, I know that’s hard especially the news to hear so I just want to just take the proactive approach,” said Coggins.
An approach Miller says is needed after an alarming trend finds black men are about two times more likely than white men to die from prostate cancer in the US.
The Lancet Commission also projects in a recent study that the number of new prostate cancer cases will rise to 2.9 million by 2040.
Experts say the only way to mitigate the harm caused by rising case numbers is to set up screenings to help improve early diagnosis.
“Usually, when the cancer is found, it’s at a higher stage so that means the cancer has metastasized and there are less treatment options, so screening is extremely important,” said Miller.
Miller says screening is pretty simple, requiring only blood work and not the digital rectal exam.
“It takes a matter of minutes and it’s a really simple process, and we try to make it easy for folks to come out here and get screened,” said Miller.
On Friday, the group screened 16 men for prostate cancer, which now brings that overall total to more than 200 people since their study began two years ago.
Now, they encourage even more people to sign up, and you can call them at 216-368-8772.
