"Donors are the resources; are the money for every experiment, for every test.
Money is research, and research is the cure."

Dr. Jonathan Simons
President and CEO
Prostate Cancer Foundation

What you should know:

Last year, prostate cancer claimed the lives of more than 28,000 American men. That's one death every 18 minutes.

Prostate cancer is the leading cause of cancer among men. A non-smoking man is more likely to develop prostate cancer than he is to develop colon, bladder, melanoma, lymphoma and kidney cancer combined.

Since 1997 the Department of Defense has been the second leading funder of prostate cancer research in the United States, bringing hope through the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program’s Prostate Cancer Research Project (CDMRP).

The innovative research programs the CDMRP has been funding have an excellent record, having helped developed the lifesaving drug "Herceptin" in its breast cancer research project and improving on "Gleevec", a blockbuster leukemia drug.

The CDMRP prostate cancer research project is closing-in on potential “HISceptins” with new “targeted medicines” that will reduce toxicity, improve quality of life, and hopefully one day replace chemotherapy. Until then, designing more effective ways of administering and combining chemotherapy drugs with the newest generation of molecularly targeted drugs will become increasingly crucial.

Department of Defense funding has been sliding backward for the past six years due to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, political budgetary issues, inflation, and increased research costs. This has resulted in a nearly eight year funding plateau that has stretched the program to the breaking-point and left the program woefully under-funded since 2002.

How you can help in under 5 minutes (and for free):

1. Go to Fund Prostate Cancer Research Now.

2. Fill in your zip code and click on "GO".

3. Click on the "Email" buttons under your Congressperson and Senator's names, sign the pre-written letter, and fill in your mailing info.

4. Click on "Send Now".

That's it. There's an extra box for additional comments so you can tell your representatives that you lost someone you cared about to prostate cancer.

Please take five minutes right now and ask your Congressman and Senators to increase the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) for Prostate Cancer at the Department of Defense in order to end this disease and save lives. Your life or the life of someone you care about may be saved by your support.

For more information go to FundResearchNow.org

There are also links to help you:

Send a letter to the editor of your local paper.
Call members of Congress.
Spread the word by sending emails to friends.
Update your profile on social networks and more.
Post a comment on the Fund Research Now website.

Dan's "Sermon"

To each and every man....

I cannot encourage you strongly enough to get a PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) and DRE (Digital Rectal Exam) a test EVERY YEAR.

The medical community suggests this for men over 50, but men with a family history of prostate cancer, and African American men should start getting tested at age 45. Men with two of these risk factors should start getting tested at age 40.

The PSA test is a simple blood test...it only takes a minute or two. The DRE, okay, every man squirms at the thought of this exam, but hey, it too takes only a minute or two, and IT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE.

Prostate cancer can be very slow growing or very aggressive, but detected early while it is still confined to the prostate gland, it can usually be treated and cured successfully.

Once it spreads beyond the prostate it is called Advanced Prostate Cancer. At this point it becomes imminently more life threatening and harder to treat. Do yourself and your loved ones a huge favor and GET CHECKED REGULARLY. I promise you, you DON’T want to go through what I'm going through if you can avoid it.

Education and awareness are key. I urge you to follow the link below to the Prostate Cancer Foundation web site and read up on how best to protect yourself and reduce your likelihood of developing this terrible disease.

www.pcf.org