SAN DIEGO – San Diego Padres legend and prostate cancer survivor Steve Garvey will greet fans at a free prostate cancer screening event hosted by Scripps Health and Ed Randall’s Fans for the Cure (ERFFTC) at the Padres game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Petco Park on Sept. 3.
The screenings will be open to all male ticket holders at the game who are 50 or older (or 40 and older with a family history of prostate cancer). Screenings will begin when the ballpark’s Park at the Park gates open at 4:30 p.m. and will continue until the seventh inning at the Scripps Mobile Medical Unit, which will be located in the Park at the Park, beyond the right-field fence.
Garvey is expected to be at the Scripps Mobile Medical Unit from approximately 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. to interact with fans before first pitch at 7:10 p.m. Following his own successful treatment for prostate cancer, the former Padres All Star has been active in raising awareness about the importance of screening for the disease. Garvey helped send the Padres to their first World Series with his walk-off homer in Game 4 of the 1984 National League Championship Series.
At the screening event, a team of Scripps phlebotomists will administer prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood tests, while Scripps physicians will administer digital rectal exams from the privacy of the Mobile Medical Unit. Participants will receive test results via confidential mail. Educational materials about prostate cancer will also be available.
“Prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in American men, behind only lung cancer,” said Ed Randall, founder and CEO of ERFFTC, a nationally recognized 501 (c) 3 charity devoted to education about and the life-saving benefits of early detection of prostate cancer. “We are proud to once again partner with Scripps Health on this year’s screening, as we did last year at the Baseball Winter Meetings in San Diego. As a survivor myself, their work is very important to me.”
“PSA screenings save lives,” said Carl Rossi, M.D., medical director of the Scripps Proton Therapy Center. “The cure rate for prostate cancer has increased significantly since widespread use of PSA testing began in the early 1990s. When diagnosed early, at the local or regional stages, national survival rates are nearly 100 percent.”
