Doctors urge New York men to take advantage of free, city-wide PSA testing

African-American men are twice as likely to die from prostate cancer as white men. And Caribbean-born men in Brooklyn are three times as likely to die from the disease as U.S.-born men.

That's why PSA testing is a hot-button issue at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center - and why the hospital is a major participant in the Daily News' free PSA testing campaign. The East Flatbush, Brooklyn, hospital sits smack in the middle of Brooklyn's prostate cancer epicenter.

Starting Monday, Kingsbrook will offer free PSA tests together with seven other hospitals and a nonprofit outfit during a week-long campaign The News sponsors to battle prostate cancer.

This is the start of the second decade of the annual campaign.

"Take advantage of the test," said Dr. Jacob Sharaby, Kingsbrook's director of urology. "It's free, and it can help save your life." The list of test locations appears in today's paper and online at NYDailyNews.com.

The PSA test checks the level of prostate-specific antigen, a protein, in blood. An elevated level is a possible early indicator of prostate cancer. The central Brooklyn neighborhoods that constitute the hospital's primary care area are home to big African- and Caribbean-American communities. The area has the highest incidence of prostate cancer in the borough.

The hospital tested 1,000 men last year, a big jump from 800 during 2008's testing week. Kingsbrook spokeswoman Enid Dillard said the hospital is working with local leaders to test even more men this year. Convincing their listeners can be a tough task.

"They think if they have no urinary problems, they don't have prostate cancer," Sharaby said. "They are wrong."

Some don't get tested because they're squeamish.

"I am scared of needles," confessed Geoffrey Davis, who heads the James E. Davis Stop Violence Foundation, which is named after his brother, a city councilman who was slain in 2003.

As a member of the Prostate Cancer Committee, Davis, 46, has spent months urging other guys to go for the test: "The first thing they say to me is, 'Are you gonna take it?'" he said.He already has.

Drawing blood from the crook of his elbow took all of 30 seconds.

"One vial is all it takes," said patient care technician Marcia Waldron, who did the job.

"It didn't hurt at all," Davis said afterward.

lcroghan@nydailynews.com

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