When Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1991 at age 58, it was a public wake up call for African American men to learn more about the disease and be tested.
Heeding that call is what saved Alim Muhammad’s life.
Men usually start prostate cancer screenings in their 50s –40s for African American men. Although he was a few years shy of 40, Muhammad, a 37-year-old letter carrier from Fairview Heights, Illinois, decided to take Farrakhan’s advice and get the prostate specific antigen test (PSA) when he had his annual physical around his birthday last year.
“Then I asked for the PSA (protein specific antigen) test. The doctor – she was willing to do so, they gave me the PSA test. So when I came back for my results in July, my PSA was up,” Muhammad said.
The PSA test is a blood test that looks for high levels of a protein produced by cells in the prostate.
When he took the PSA test the second time, his numbers were climbing.
Digital rectal exams (DRE) indicated an enlarged prostate. The PSA and DRE cannot diagnose cancer –they suggest whether further testing is needed.
Muhammad went from doctors in Belleville and O’Fallon, Illinois to a specialist in St. Louis.
“My urologist, Dr. Arnold Bullock, who works over there at BJC Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center – after we did further testing in August – September is when I found out that I had an aggressive form of prostate cancer.”
Prostate cancers (through microscopic examination) are assigned a grade to the two areas that make up most of the cancer. These two grades are added together to yield the Gleason score, which is a number between 2 and 10.
“Mine was a seven on the Gleason score,” Muhammad said. The higher your Gleason score, the more likely it is the cancer will grow and quickly spread.
It is uncertain why African American men have such a high incidence of prostate cancer – 60 percent higher than white men and significantly higher than other races, although increased age, family history and race/ethnicity are factors. It is the second leading cause of cancer death for black men in the U.S. lung cancer is first.
“I’m a vegetarian – I don’t smoke, I don’t drink –I live a pretty moderate lifestyle and as far as I know there is no history of prostate cancer in my family, but I ended up with the disease,” he said of becoming the one in 10,000 under the age of 40 to be diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Because the cancer was at stage 2, Muhammad decided on a radical prostatectomy, surgical removal of the prostate.
“I was blessed not to have chemo or radiation, but I am on some medication,” Muhammad said.
He is nearly nine months cancer-free.
“I’m alive and I’m thankful to God because he blessed me to ask the question about the PSA test and more importantly, the doctor – she agreed to do it,” Muhammad said.
“Most of the time if you’re under 40, they won’t give you a PSA test –just like with the women, they won’t give you a mammogram test.”
Eleven months from his initial diagnosis, Muhammad and his older daughter Ajané Muhammad participated in the prostate cancer walk in St. Louis August 22. He also credits his recovery to the support of the Empowerment Network Support Group.
“Brother Mellve Shahid and the Empowerment Network have been outstanding to my recovery because being able to reach out and help somebody else … helps me,” Muhammad said, “because the psychological, the emotional and the physical trauma of the prostate cancer –its very serious.”
The Empowerment Network was created out of a need to help prostate cancer survivors and their families through what could be a life-threatening illness.
“The Empowerment Network Support Group partnered with the American Cancer Society in February 2009 to bring to the city of St. Louis the first man-to-man support group for men battling prostate cancer,” said founder Mellve Shahid, who is also a prostate cancer survivor. “We meet the second Saturday of each and every month at the Metropolitan Village Apartment 3114 Franklin at 10:00 in the library.”
Since 1993, the number of men diagnosed with prostate cancer in the U.S. has been declining. Recently there is some disagreement in the medical community on the effectiveness of PSA screenings. Don’t tell that to Muhammad or Shahid, who were screened, diagnosed, treated and live to talk about it.
“Early detection is the best protection, because had I not gone and asked for the PSA testing and had not gone for my annual exam, I would probably be on my deathbed now,” Muhammad said. “It’s about reaching on, helping somebody go to the doctor to try and get the various tests they need and more importantly, the PSA test, because it’s about maintaining a healthy lifestyle.”
For more information about prostate cancer and African Americans, get a downloadable copy of the American Cancer Society booklet, Cancer Facts & Figures for African Americans 2007 – 2008 at www.cancer.org, or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention booklet, “Prostate Cancer Screening – A Decision Guide for African Americans” at www.cdc.gov or go to the Prostate Cancer Foundation at www.prostatecancerfoundation.org.
