Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 26–Senators Porter, Amodei, Care, Carlton, Coffin, Jacobsen, James, Mathews, McGinness, Neal, O’Connell, O’Donnell, Raggio, Rawson, Rhoads, Schneider, Shaffer, Titus, Townsend, Washington and Wiener

 

FILE NUMBER..........

 

Senate Concurrent Resolution—Proclaiming April 2, 2001, as Prostate Cancer Awareness Day and September as Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.

 

   Whereas, In the United States, a man is diagnosed every 3 minutes and one dies every 14 minutes from prostate cancer, the second leading cause of death in men with cancer; and

   Whereas, Of the approximately 30 million men over 50 years of age in the United States, about 42 percent will experience prostate cancer sometime during their lives; and

   Whereas, At this time, the cause of prostate cancer is unknown, it is not preventable, and treatment is most effective during the early stages; and

   Whereas, Former Nevada Governor Bob Miller, prominent Nevada

 television news reporter John Tyson and former presidential candidate

 Robert Dole have been at the forefront in educating Nevadans and the rest

 of the American public about prostate cancer; and

   Whereas, A study by the National Academies of Science of military

 participants in U.S. nuclear weapons tests during the 1950s, including the

 Nevada Test Site, found that deaths from prostate cancer were 20 percent

 higher among nuclear test participants; and

   Whereas, Because many men with prostate cancer have no symptoms,

 they feel confident that they are in good health and do not protect

 themselves by getting regular screening; and

   Whereas, Half or more of primary care doctors do not offer screening

 for prostate cancer, even to men at risk, such as males with a family

 history of the disease and African-American men who have a rate 32

 percent higher than their Caucasian counterparts; and

   Whereas, Because of the lack of clinical trials, the American Cancer

 Society, the National Cancer Institute and other organizations take a

 conservative approach to screening for prostate cancer, believing that the

 benefit of screening has not been proven; and

   Whereas, Until recently, many doctors felt that testing discovered

 many cases of cancer that need not be treated, causing unnecessary stress

 to the patient, and that treatment sometimes does more harm than good,

 diminishing the quality of life of their patients; and

   Whereas, If not detected early, prostate cancer cells can escape the

 confines of the prostate, making treatment very difficult and increasing the

 mortality rate of the disease; and

   Whereas, Prostate cancer is primarily diagnosed in the early stages

 through a combination of two widely used diagnostic tests, prostate

-specific antigen (PSA) and digital rectal examination (DRE); and

   Whereas, Before the widespread use of the PSA test just over a decade

 ago, 70 percent of men diagnosed with prostate cancer were diagnosed in

 the advanced stages of the disease; and

   Whereas, Now, because of more frequent use of early testing by the

 PSA and DRE, 70 percent of men are diagnosed in the earlier stages,

 leading to better chances of survival; and

   Whereas, Scientists are enthusiastic about research to detect and find a

cure for prostate cancer, including treating patients with surgery or

 radiation; and

   Whereas, Studies of treatments using ultrasound are proving

 promising in that they may be more effective and have fewer side effects

 than other treatments; and

   Whereas, Prostate cancer affects not only the men afflicted with this

 disease, but also affects their families and friends; and

   Whereas, Early detection and treatment of this disease are critically

 important; now, therefore, be it

   Resolved by the Senate of the State of Nevada, the Assembly

 Concurring, That the Nevada Legislature is committed to protecting

 men’s health and saving lives by continuing to create greater public

 understanding of prostate cancer and the need for early detection,

 informed choices and continued research; and be it further

   Resolved, That the members of the Legislature proclaim April 2, 2001,

 as Prostate Cancer Awareness Day and September as Prostate Cancer

 Awareness Month.

 

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