AGAT Foundation

PROSTATE CANCER CENTRE

Man Checking in at the PCC

The Prostate Cancer Centre was designed for men and has been at the forefront of prostate health in Calgary and Canada since 1999.

The Prostate Cancer Centre has over 19,000 patient visits a year.

pROSTATE cANCER cENTRE & sOUTHERN aLBERTA uNSTITUTe OF UROLOGY

Men currently live 3.5 to 4 years less than women. Of the top thirteen causes of death, including all cancers, cardiovascular disease, accidental and non-accidental trauma, men lead women in twelve of these categories. In regards to mental health, 80% of people who die by suicide in Alberta are men. Men are less likely to recognize, talk about and seek treatment for their mental illness. Up to 10% of men experience paternal postpartum depression but don’t usually report it.

The Prostate Cancer Centre (PCC) is a non-profit world-class medical center with over 19,000 annual patient visits, and just adjacent to the PCC is the Southern Alberta Institute of Urology (SAIU), the most comprehensive urological center in Canada. The PCC and the SAIU have an outreach program called the Man Van which is a preventative health program. This is an initiative where they have two vans (One in Calgary and the other for southern Alberta) which drive around and give free PSA tests to men over 40. They also offer blood pressure, waist circumference and mental health services. You can visit our Man Van page here.

The goal of the PCC and SAIU are to not only remove and treat men with cancer but to treat their mental health as well because this can be a very stressful experience. As of 2019 they have ten staff that are involve in over 15 active research studies. These facilities are recognized as a top research facility in Canada.
Dr. Shelley Spaner started the Women’s for Men’s Health to partner with the PCC and SAIU to raise money for programs and research as well as helping to meet their expanding needs.

They have developed a dedicated Male Specific “one-stop shop”:

  1. Urological Health – including male specific cancers, sexual health, bone health.
  2. Mental Health – including treatment, support and triage to experts.
  3. Functional Health – using this emerging practice as a base, optimize patients focusing on: Prehabilitation, Postoperative Recovery and Nutrition.
To reduce complications and the amount of time needed for recovery in hospital the Centre focus’s on Prehabilitaton. The process of care, initiated before surgery, where patient’s physical, nutritional, medical and mental conditions are strengthened to facilitate postoperative return to preoperative conditions. They help increase functional capacity before surgery, thus shortening recovery and accelerating the return to preoperative conditions. The program consists of preoperative baseline medical assessment and evaluation of physical strength/flexibility, nutrition and mental health. A personalized program is prepared based on medical and pharmacological optimization, aerobic and resistance exercises, protein and energy supplementation, anti-anxiety strategies, glycemic control, and alcohol and smoking cessation.
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