By Ashley Hassett
Buffalo, NY – The Roswell Park Cancer Institute launched an awareness campaign Wednesday that urges African-American and Latino men to undergo screenings for prostate cancer.
Roswell Park officials say African-Americans are one-and-a-half times as likely as Caucasian men to be diagnosed with prostate cancer, and twice as likely to die from it. The mortality rate for Latinos is also higher.
Deputy Mayor Donna Brown was on hand for Wednesday's announcement. She says screenings save lives.
"We know men. They don't like to go to the doctor. So, we have to encourage them," Brown said. "Prostate cancer can be cured. Early detection is the only way."
Roswell Park is calling its awareness campaign "MAN-UP" -- Minorities Allied for the Need to Understand Prostate Cancer. MAN-UP plans to work with city churches and social organizations to get the word out.