Former NHL stars promoting men's health and prostate cancer screening and testing
CTV
Lanny McDonald sports a championship ring he earned after winning the Stanley Cup with the Calgary Flames in 1989 and remains a fixture in the community. McDonald along with Wendel Clark and Guy Charbonneau are spreading the word about the importance of men getting checked for prostate cancer.
Lanny McDonald sports a championship ring he earned after winning the Stanley Cup with the Calgary Flames in 1989 and remains a fixture in the community. McDonald along with Wendel Clark and Guy Charbonneau are spreading the word about the importance of men getting checked for prostate cancer.
"It's so important, men are their own worst enemy, we're afraid to talk about men's health and this is a great opportunity," said McDonald. "Wendel Clark, Guy Carbonneau and myself, were asked if we would come on board and help bring awareness to the prostate cancer campaign and we're proud Canadians and want to help men just like ourselves."
The campaign is highlighting new testing methods such as Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and how they're available to detect cancer progression and spread across the body. McDonald says the campaign is geared towards all men, but especially those over 60.
"Most people are afraid to get tested and if you don't get tested, how do you know," he said. "As far as myself, I'm getting tested again next week and you know what, to all men, I challenge them do the same thing, because your loved ones need you to be around."
McDonald is getting a tour of the Prostate Cancer Centre's Man Van that is Canada's first mobile men's health clinic offering free prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood testing used for early detection of prostate cancer.
"It just takes a few moments to make the commitment," said McDonald. "Get tested and find out as much as possible because when you talk about prostate cancer and the biomarkers that go with it, the PSA test will tell you everything, so get checked."
Dr. Steven Yip is a medical oncologist at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre and the Authur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre and says blood testing is the easiest way to screen for prostate cancer.
