Prostate cancer is the second most diagnosed cancer among men in the Texas Panhandle. The American Cancer Society estimates one in eight men in the U.S. Will get that diagnosis. Dr. Rodney Young, a family medicine physician with Texas Tech Physicians, said roughly 300,000 men receive one and about 30,000 to 40,000 of them die from it.
The screening runs from 5:30 to 8 p.m., and Amarillo Urology Associates handles the blood draw. Ryan Parnell, who directs the center, encourages men over 45 to get tested. Staff will confirm that entrants are between 45 and 75, then pull a name from a hopper for the $1,000.
Parnell wants men to drop the dread. "This is not the finger," he said. It's a simple blood draw, and he said filling out the form that says where to send results takes longer than the draw itself.
Young said the timing matters because early prostate cancer often brings no pain, no blood in the urine and no weight loss. Screening can catch it before symptoms show up.