PROSTATE CANCER SURVEY

The Prostate Study Group headed by Dr. Alan Patrick and Dr. Clare Bunker offers free testing for prostate cancer for men over 40 years residing in Tobago, in the form of a blood test (PSA) and a digital rectal examination (DRE). The office is located at Dutch Fort. The blood test is done by the University of Pittsburgh, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (U.S.A.). Doctors employed by the Tobago Regional Health Authority assist in the study. For those patients with a high PSA or an abnormal DRE, ultrasound guided biopsy of the prostate gland is done at the hospital, also free of charge.

The University of Pittsburgh, in conjunction with the Tobago Regional Health Authority offers surgery in the form of Radical Prostatectomy for those diagnosed with early prostate cancer, in which there is a good chance of curing the disease by complete removal of the prostate gland. This is offered three to four times a year. The surgery is performed by top urologists from the United States, and the technique employed retains potency (the ability to have an erection). The patients also have a free bone density scan as part of the study.

In the near future...

For the women, there will soon be another study, this time to determine the bone density levels among the female residents in Tobago over 50 years. The women will fill out a questionnaire, have a blood test, then they will have a bone density scan, at the hospital, free of charge.