Carrington Coal Terminal Will Light Up Blue Tonight, to Support Prostate Cancer Awareness

BY ISABEL EVERETT

Two ship loaders at Port Waratah's Carrington Terminal will light up Blue on Tuesday night, to support International Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.

Port Waratah Coal Services have partnered with Hunter Prostate Cancer Alliance (HPCA) to light up the night blue every night during September to raise awareness for the “Little Prick” campaign.

The “Little Prick” campaign refers to the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) blood test, which all men over the age of 50 should request during their regular GP checkups. 

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australian men with 20,000 diagnoses and close to 3,300 deaths each year.

Michael Hagan, Director and Ambassador for HPCA said, “Over my NRL career, I’ve coached and played with a lot of tough men. No matter how fit you are, or how healthy you think you are, there’s nothing tough about ignoring your health. "

"When I was just 44 years old, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Fortunately, due to regular PSA tests from my GP, it was detected early and my life was saved."

"The PSA is a simple blood test that aids in the early detection of prostate cancer. If you’re over the age of 50 (or over 40, if there’s a family history) it’s time to toughen up and request the PSA as part of your regular GP check-up. It’s just a little prick!”.

Community members and photographers also have the chance to win a VIP photography tour of the Port Waratah Coal Services operation for two. 

To help raise awareness for prostate cancer, participants simply snap a photo of the “Light It Up Blue” shiploaders during September and send it in for a chance to win.

For more information visit https://www.pwcs.com.au/news/latest-news/light-it-up-blue-photography-competition/

Game changer for cancer patients

BY JESSICA ROUSE

A new study at the Calvary Mater Hospital is being described as a game changer for cancer patients.

Prescribing treatment dosage for prostate cancer patients today involves the patient having an MRI scan which is used to define the body's anatomy and targets, then a second scan - a CT scan - is used to work out how much dosage and what kind of treatment plan is necessary for the anatomy and targets found in the initial scan.

The new study is looking at the use of MRI scanning technology alone to find the anatomy and targets and work out dosage and treatment plans.

Leading the study is Professor Peter Greer who believes the benefits will be well worth it because in just using one scan the results are more accurate, and it's also cost effective.

"We're hoping that this will make the treatments slightly a little bit more accurate for the patients and then in the future possibly we can even reduce the side effects of the treatments by giving less dose to the normal tissues because we're able to deliver the treatments a little bit more accurately," said Professor Peter Greer. 

25 prostate cancer patients are currently undergoing the study which is set to wrap up at the end of the year, and researchers are confident the technique could be used for all patients as early as next year.

"We're starting with prostate because we have large numbers of patients who use MRI, but we're also working on developing this technique for other sites such as other pelvic cancers, brain cancer, head and neck cancer as well," said Professor Peter Greer.

Image www.healthdirect.gov.au