On Saturday, June 8, the Urology Health Foundation (UHF) will hold a free

prostate cancer screening for men 40 and older from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the Dallas County Health Department.

According to the UHF, prostate cancer affects one in six American men and is the second leading cause of cancer death among men in the United States.

According to the UHF, age and race are the strongest risk factors for prostate cancer.

African-American men are at special risk for the disease, with the highest rate of prostate cancer in the world. Studies conducted by the UHF show that one in four African-American men will get prostate cancer sometime in their life and are more than twice as likely to die of the disease as white men.

According to Dr. Thomas Moody, President of the UHF, there are no noticeable symptoms of prostate cancer while it is still in the early stages.

If, however, a man with prostate cancer waits to act until he has symptoms, the cancer may already have grown outside the prostate and progressed to the point where it is rarely curable.

Moody stresses that regular screenings are the best way to maximize a man’s chances of discovering prostate cancer while it is still at an early stage.

Screening for prostate cancer involves a simple blood test called a PSA that measures the level of protein called prostate-specific antigen in the blood.

Normally PSA is found in the blood at very low levels. Elevated PSA readings can be a sign of prostate cancer.

A physical examination – called a digital rectal exam or DRE – is also given to detect prostate cancer.

These two tests take about 10 minutes to perform and could save a man’s life, According to Moody.