We hate it!
We hate it because it reminds us of our past, it is kind of like appendix. No body thinks about it until it gets inflamed. Our prostrate is a reminder of our past but it should be checked because the risk of cancer is not zero for us.
Even though our risk is small it is not zero and I have a prostrate exam at my annual physical… do you?
We hate it because it reminds us of our past, it is kind of like appendix. No body thinks about it until it gets inflamed. Our prostrate is a reminder of our past but it should be checked because the risk of cancer is not zero for us.
What Transgender Women Need to Know About Their Risk of Prostate CancerThe bottom line…
Your risk may be related to your transition.
Self
By Korin Miller
July 21, 2017
Basically, if you have a prostate, you're at risk of developing prostate cancer.
Even people who have undergone gender-affirming surgery will typically still have a prostate, Zil Goldstein, assistant professor of medical education and program director for the Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery at Mount Sinai Health System, tells SELF.
Prostate cancer can and does happen to transgender women. A 2013 case study published in the Canadian Urological Association Journal, for example, reports the case of a transgender woman who was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer (meaning, it had spread beyond her prostate to other parts of her body), 31 years after she transitioned. Another case study published in JAMA tells the story of a transgender woman who was diagnosed with prostate cancer 41 years after her transition.
According to the University of California, San Francisco Center of Excellence for Transgender Health, there have been cases of prostate cancer in transgender women with a variety of surgical histories and hormone therapies, meaning it's hard to say that any one surgery or hormone therapy would obliterate your risk. However, most cases of prostate cancer in transgender women have involved people who started hormone therapy later in life.
If you still have a prostate, Dr. Radix says it’s important to remember that you may still be at risk for prostate cancer, which means that you should talk to your doctor about screening. You can search for LGBT-friendly doctors at places like: GLMA.org, WPATH.org, or trans-health.com.Oh by the way those PSA tests, according to New England Section of the American Urological Association…
Prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels are lower in those on hormonal therapy, but data evaluating the normal PSA range for these patients are limited. Current recommendations for PCA screening are not tailored for TG patients making appropriate prescreening counseling regarding PSA critical in this population.Translation: They don’t know if the PSA test is reliable for trans women.
Even though our risk is small it is not zero and I have a prostrate exam at my annual physical… do you?
I had to ask my doctor to do a prostate exam during a physical exam a few years ago. He was trying so hard not to be offensive to me, I think, that he was afraid to even mention it. I explained to him that, although I expect to be treated as a woman, socially, I also expect to have my body treated for whatever parts it has - even if those parts are male in origin.
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