Urology Care Foundation Tackles Prostate Cancer with NFL Team-Up

For nearly a decade, the Urology Care Foundation has promoted prostate health awareness with the help of a powerful teammate: the National Football League (NFL).

The relationship between the organizations began in 2007, when the Urology Care Foundation conducted prostate cancer screenings for retired NFL players. This partnership expanded in 2009 with the launch of the Know Your Stats campaign, a joint effort by the Urology Care Foundation and the NFL to educate patients on the risks of prostate cancer.

The Urology Care Foundation and the NFL encourage patients to visit the campaign’s website (Knowyourstats.org), where they can find resources such as a test to predict prostate cancer risk, lists of potential treatment options, and a comprehensive “Playbook” on prostate health. The Know Your Stats website also provides its visitors with a number of crucial statistics and facts on prostate cancer, including:

• Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer among men in the Unites States
• 1 in 7 men will develop prostate cancer
• 1 in 5 African American men develop prostate cancer
• 1 in 3 men with a family history of prostate cancer develop the disease
• Approximately 220,800 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year
• More than 27,000 men die from prostate cancer each year

The goal of the Know Your Stats campaign, which recently completed its seventh season, is to empower men to take control of their prostate health by giving them with the information they need to determine their risk of prostate cancer and advising those at risk to speak with their providers.

To help promote the initiative, the Urology Care Foundation and the NFL have drafted spokespeople such as Pro Football Hall of Famers Mike Haynes and Harry Carson. For Haynes, involvement in the campaign was personal: it was during a Urology Care Foundation screening that he discovered that he had developed prostate cancer. Haynes was able to contain his disease as a result of this early detection, inspiring him to educate the public on the importance of cancer screenings.

“Before I was diagnosed with prostate cancer, I had no idea I was at risk for this deadly disease,” Haynes previously stated. “Now, as a cancer survivor, I feel the need to educate others about prostate cancer - the more people who know my story, as well as their risk for prostate cancer, the more we can raise awareness and save men's lives.”

“Winning the battle against prostate cancer involves a team approach,” added Carson. “That is why Mike and I are calling on all men to know their risk, talk to their doctor and stay in the game for life.”