Prostate Cancer Screenings
Offered at Community Blood Services
to Male Donors 40 and Older

June 15 & 16, 2015

�

Any man 40 years old or older who registers to donate whole blood or platelets at any Community Blood Services� donor center or mobile blood drive on June 15 or 16 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 is one way for us to say thank you to our donors and show our commitment to the health of our community members, especially during Men�s Health Week,� said Karen Ferriday, director of community affairs at Community Blood Services.

Men�s Health Week is celebrated each year as the week leading up to and including Father�s Day. It is designed to heighten the awareness of preventable health problems and encourage early detection and treatment of disease among men and boys.

The free PSA health screening will be offered on Monday and Tuesday, June 15 and 16, to donors who donate at the Paramus, Montvale, Lincoln Park or Parsippany donor centers in New Jersey, as well as all other donation sites and blood drives scheduled on those days.

Donors can call 201-251-3703 or toll free 866-228-1500 for locations and hours or to make an appointment. They can also click here for locations/hours or click here to schedule an appointment online. 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 screening 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 220,800 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed in 2015 in the U.S. and an estimated 27,540 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, which has been serving the community for more than 60 years, needs continuous blood and platelet donations to ensure there is enough blood on its shelves to help patients at the more than 20 hospitals it serves in New Jersey hospitals that include Hackensack University Medical Center, St.

Joseph�s Healthcare System in Wayne and Paterson, The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood and the Atlantic Health System hospitals, as well as at Orange Regional Medical Center in New York.