Good Morning America: the Healthy Male--Prostate Cancer

While the format--a series of segments from Good Morning America--is no great shakes, the up-to-date information included in this overview of the diagnosis and treatment options of prostate cancer makes this a timely video on an increasingly discussed disease. The video mixes current commentary from leading urologists and oncologists together with interviews of junk bond king (dethroned) Michael Milken who is fighting the disease and Robert Goulet who is successfully recovering. The deaths of celebrities such as Telly Savalas, Bill Bixby, and Frank Zappa from prostate cancer has focused attention on this male counterpart to breast cancer (deaths from the two cancers are fairly close). Although the prostate gland becomes enlarged with age--a usually benign condition--enlargement can also be a sign of prostate cancer. Viewers will learn the importance of having digital rectal examinations as well as a PSA blood test done on a regular basis, and be introduced to the arguments for and against drug and surgery treatments. However, diagnosis and treatment are also linked to age--and this is the tricky part--since some form of prostate cancer (which is slow growing) would be found in most men who lived into their 90s. While the fast-talking-host-and-hurried-interviewees aspect of the program (de rigeur in all network shows) is mildly irritating, this is more than just a thumbnail sketch. While not quite as detailed as Charles C. Mann's recent article "The Prostate Cancer Dilemma" (The Atlantic, November, 1993), The Healthy Male--Prostate Cancer does a great job of making men aware that an ounce of prevention can catch the disease before it's too late. Highly recommended. (R. Pitman)