This year the MD Anderson Cancer Center Madrid – Hospiten has again joined in with the Movember movement, an initiative now over ten years old that seeks to boost men’s healthcare during November. Next Tuesday, the 19th, the centre will be joining newspaper El Economista to organise a health workshop for men, “How to Take Care of Yourself After 40”, at the hospital’s central offices. For three hours, between 4 and 7 pm, experts from MD Anderson Madrid – Hospiten will address the importance of cancer prevention and talk about the psychological and social side of cancer diagnosis and treatment in men.
After the event is opened by Pablo Caño, CEO of El Economista, Doctor Santiago González, medical director of MD Anderson Madrid – Hospiten, will open the first part of the colloquium, which deals with prevention. He will present the updated figures on the prevalence and incidence of cancer in men. Next, Doctor Fernando Lista, head of Endourology, will take a look at the present and future of men’s tumour screening programmes.
Later, Doctor Isabel Gallegos of the Breast Unit will talk about a kind of tumour that’s quite frequent in women and quite rare in men: breast cancer. Lastly, Doctor Gema Moreno, head of the Molecular Laboratory, will close the first block of the workshop by reporting on the latest strides in the research and treatment of the main kinds of tumours that affect men today.
Psychological and social aspects of cancer in men
Apart from the medical indicators, it’s very important to bear in mind the psychological and social aspects that ensue after a man is diagnosed with cancer. These aspects very often affect men and women quite differently, and they form the core of the second block of the workshop. Doctor Carlos Núñez, head of Urological Surgery, will open this area by explaining how cancer can affect a patient’s sex life, one of the main concerns for men who are diagnosed with cancer in the urogenital area.
Doctor Pedro Robledo, who runs the Clinical Nutrition and Diet Unit, will then tell what’s true and false about the link between certain eating habits and cancer. Afterwards, Marta de la Fuente, who heads up the Psycho-oncology Department, will discuss the need to tend to the emotional health of male cancer patients.
Lastly, Doctor Ricardo Cubedo, who runs Sarcomas and Hereditary Cancer, will close the workshop by explaining the chances a man has of developing cancer depending on his family history.