Prostate group gives Utah a D-

Fewer than half of Utah men over 50 are screened annually for prostate cancer. That, combined with the number of Utah men who die from the disease, and the lack of a law requiring insurance companies to cover the cost of screening, has earned Utah a D-minus from the National Prostate Cancer Coalition.

The group issued its first-ever report card of the states this week, ranking Utah 34 out of 51, including the District of Columbia, when it comes to screening and mortality rate. As for overall grades, only five states — Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Mississippi and Wisconsin — fared worse, each earning a failing grade.

California, Connecticut, Kansas and New York each earned an A.

The coalition singled out Utah as the only state that does not require insurance companies to pay for either prostate cancer or breast cancer screening, although with both cancers early detection is crucial to survival, according to coalition spokesman Jamie Bearse.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data used for the report card, 49.3 percent of Utah men over 50 are screened annually for prostate cancer. And every year, 31 men per 100,000 die due to prostate cancer.

Bearse said the coalition hopes the information will be used to raise awareness among men and their families about the importance of prostate cancer screening, which involves a prostate-specific antigen test and a digital rectal exam. Detected early, there's a 99 percent survival rate.

"You can't wait for symptoms," Bearse said. "Once you start to get symptoms, it's often too late and has spread to other parts of the body."

The coalition also hopes the report card will encourage state legislatures to tackle screening by requiring insurance companies to cover the cost. Twenty-eight states mandate coverage of prostate cancer screening, compared to 49 that require breast cancer screening insurance coverage.

Such a law is "a good barometer of how invested" legislators are in prostate cancer prevention, Bearse said.

The prostate is a gland involved in the male reproductive system that wraps around the urethra and helps control urine flow. While prostate cancer is slow-growing, it is the most commonly diagnosed non-skin cancer in American men, and No. 2 cancer cause of death for men, following lung cancer. Overall, a man has a 17 percent chance of developing prostate cancer and a 3 percent chance of dying from it, according to the CDC and the coalition.

African Americans and those with a father or brother diagnosed with the disease are at increased risk. Researchers also believe that those who regularly ingest saturated fat and red meat are at greater risk than those with a diet filled with fruits and vegetables.

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E-mail: lois@desnews.com