" The 56-year-old DePaul University journalism professor had prostate cancer surgery earlier this year. His disease was first spotted by a blood test -- the same test being offered for free throughout the Chicago area April 23 through April 28 by the Chicago Sun-Times, the National Prostate Cancer Coalition and eight local hospitals. "

"The PSA blood test is a commonly used screening tool for prostate cancer, a disease that's highly treatable when caught in the early stages, before malignant cells have spread. "

"Bruce Evensen, 56, of Arlington Heights, credits his life being saved to PSA exams that identified his prostate cancer in an early stage. "

""Luck has nothing to do with it," said Evensen, a father of two from northwest suburban Arlington Heights. "Men have to be vigilant and get tested. This is your health -- your life." "

"The PSA test, while far from perfect, has been widely used since the 1990s to signal the presence of prostate cancer. It measures the amount of prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, in the blood. The higher the PSA level, the greater the likelihood of cancer. "

"During next week's screenings, men ages 40 and older can drop by one of the mobile clinics -- no appointment necessary, walk-ins welcome -- for a free PSA test and physical exam. Health-care workers will draw a vial of blood to measure PSA levels. Doctors will conduct the physical portion of the exam, which consists of feeling the prostate for irregularities. Men can decline the physical exam, but experts strongly encourage having it done because it can find cancers that might go undetected by the PSA test. "

"The entire process takes about 20 minutes, and PSA results will arrive in the mail within four weeks. "

"For years, the thinking has been that men generally don't need to get their prostates biopsied -- the only way to know for sure if cancer is present -- unless their PSA level is over 4. But the drumbeat has been getting louder to biopsy men with PSA levels at 2.5 or lower, depending on age, race and the speed at which PSA levels are climbing. "

"Evensen's PSA never reached that magic number 4. But his PSA levels were steadily escalating each time he took the test. He decided not to chance it and scheduled a biopsy, where small pieces of prostate tissue are examined for cancer. "

""It's a 15-minute office procedure and it can give you invaluable information," Evensen said. "I wasn't about to wait for symptoms to emerge. I watched my mother, brother and father die of cancer." "

"Cancer isn't the only thing
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