Beckman Coulter Teams with Prostate Cancer Education Council to Sponsor Prostate Cancer Awareness Week
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Company Donates PSA Test Kits to Screen Men and Raise Awareness of Disease
FULLERTON, Calif. (September 16, 2005) – Beckman Coulter, Inc. has joined forces with the Prostate Cancer Education Council (PCEC) to provide free and low-cost prostate cancer screenings in various U.S. cities as part of Prostate Cancer Awareness Week, which runs from September 19 through September 24. To support Prostate Cancer Awareness Week, the company has donated thousands of its Hybritech® PSA and Hybritech free PSA blood tests to aid in the detection of prostate cancer, as well as blood tests that measure testosterone and total cholesterol. “Beckman Coulter’s support of this important event is evidence of our continuing commitment to prostate cancer screening and research to improve men's health,” said Peter Heseltine, M.D., FACP, medical director for Beckman Coulter. “By donating our Hybritech PSA blood tests for use during Prostate Cancer Awareness Week, we are making a difference in many lives and raising awareness of this disease. If detected early enough, prostate cancer is almost 100 percent curable.” Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men, second only to lung cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. More than 230,000 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed in the United States in 2005. About 30,000 men will die of this disease this year alone. - more - Earlier this summer, Beckman Coulter sponsored PCEC’s PACE Race 5K Run/Walk Series in Minneapolis and Sacramento, Calif., to raise awareness of prostate cancer. The PACE Races are a series of nationwide events that PCEC uses to increase awareness about early detection of prostate cancer, treatment options and other men’s health issues. The PCEC is a consortium of leading physicians, health educators, scientists and prostate cancer advocates. In addition to coordinating national Prostate Cancer Awareness Week, the council participates in research and technology development related to the detection and treatment of prostate cancer. “We are grateful for this support from Beckman Coulter, an industry leader in prostate cancer testing,” said PCEC's chairman, urologist E. David Crawford, M.D. “Their assistance with our public education efforts is helping us spread the word about prostate health issues. In addition, their donation of thousands of PSA blood tests helps make it possible for the council to offer tests to men across the nation and to conduct further research on men's health.” Over the past 15 years, more than 3 million men have received screenings as part of Prostate Cancer Awareness Week, making it one of the largest and most successful health screening projects in the world. This year, the PCEC estimates that it will provide free screenings to more than 125,000 men and reach millions more through its awareness and educational campaigns. Beckman Coulter's Hybritech PSA and Hybritech free PSA blood tests were the first of their kind to be approved by the FDA to aid in the detection of prostate cancer. The Hybritech PSA test detects prostate specific antigen (PSA). Elevated levels of PSA in blood may be indicative of prostate cancer. Hybritech free PSA may be used as a follow-up test to enhance the accuracy of PSA testing. Because PSA exists in multiple forms, including some that is bound to proteins and some that is unbound or “free,” the Hybritech free PSA test enables calculation of the ratio of “free” to “total” PSA to help physicians distinguish prostate cancer from benign prostate disease. - more - This year’s Prostate Cancer Awareness Week marks the first time the Hybritech free PSA test is being offered as part of the screenings. For more information about the Hybritech PSA and Hybritech free PSA blood tests, visit beckmancoulter.com/psa. The Prostate Cancer Education Council (PCEC), founded in 1989, educates men, the women in their lives, and the medical community about the prevalence of prostate cancer, the importance of early detection, available treatment options, and other men's health issues. In addition to aiding the early detection of prostate cancer, its screenings during PCAW have yielded valuable research results. For more information about Prostate Cancer Awareness Week, visit www.pcaw.com. Beckman Coulter manufactures biomedical testing instrument systems, tests and supplies that simplify and automate laboratory processes. Spanning the biomedical testing continuum — from pioneering medical research and clinical trials to laboratory diagnostics and point-of-care testing — Beckman Coulter’s 200,000 installed systems provide essential biomedical information to enhance health care around the world. The company, based in Fullerton, Calif., reported 2004 annual sales of $2.4 billion with 64 percent of this amount generated by recurring revenue from supplies, test kits and services. For more information about Beckman Coulter, visit www.beckmancoulter.com. # # #
Editor’s Note: The Hybritech Tandem-R PSA and Hybritech Tandem-R free PSA tests were the first tests of their kind approved by the FDA to aid in the diagnosis of prostate cancer. The Tandem-R tests were manual laboratory tests. Beckman Coulter now manufactures the Access Hybritech PSA and free PSA tests, which run on an automated analyzer.
Contact: Beckman Coulter, Inc. (760) 942-2544 (714) 993-8736
