Prostate Cancer Screenings
Offered to Male Donors 40 and Older

Sept. 7 thru 13, 2014

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All males 40 years old or older who register to donate whole blood or platelets at any Community Blood Services� donor center or mobile blood drive from Sunday, September 7th through Saturday, September 13th can request a complimentary PSA assay test � a simple prostate cancer screening test that can help detect potential disease � at the time of his donation.

�Offering complimentary PSA screenings during Prostate Cancer Awareness Month is one way for us to say thank you to our donors and show our commitment to the health of our community members,� said Karen Ferriday, director of community affairs at Community Blood Services.

The free health screening is being offered to donors who donate at the Paramus, Montvale or Lincoln Park donor centers in New Jersey, as well as all other donation sites and blood drives scheduled during that week.

Donors can click here to schedule their appointments online or call 866-228-1500 or 201-251-3703 for locations and hours or to make an appointment. Whole blood donors can also walk-in but an appointment is needed to donate platelets at drives or sites set up to collect platelet donations.

Donors will receive a letter with their PSA test results in the mail. Men with elevated PSA levels can then have their primary care physicians review those results.

PSA (Prostate-Specific Antigen) is a natural protein produced by normal prostate glands in healthy men. The test measures PSA levels in the blood. An elevated PSA blood level may be a warning sign in men for prostate cancer, other urinary tract diseases or conditions such as benign enlargement of the prostate gland. According to the American Cancer Society, about 233,000 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed in 2014 in the U.S. and an estimated 29,480 men will die from this disease. Although prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer in men, the death rate is decreasing due to early detection and treatment.

Ferriday said Community Blood Services needs continuous blood and platelet donations to ensure there is enough blood on its shelves to help patients at the more than 18 hospitals it serves in New Jersey and New York State. Community Blood Services currently needs all blood types and products, particularly Type O negative donations, plasma from AB male donors to treat burn and trauma victims and platelet donations to treat cancer patients.