{"id":465495,"date":"2026-09-16T10:52:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T10:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/465495\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T10:52:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T10:52:11","slug":"san-diego-veteran-urges-men-to-get-screened-after-terminal-prostate-cancer-diagnosis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/465495\/","title":{"rendered":"San Diego veteran urges men to get screened after terminal prostate cancer diagnosis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The American Cancer Society recommends that average-risk men start screening at age 50, but there is no automatic standard in place, leaving many men unchecked.<\/p>\n<p>SAN DIEGO \u2014 September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, and 75-year-old Vietnam veteran Pete McBride is sharing his personal story to encourage others to get screened for this often-silent disease. McBride&#8217;s journey took a devastating turn last month when he learned he had terminal prostate cancer, a diagnosis that shocked him and his family.<\/p>\n<p>                                            &#13;<br \/>\n                                                <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cbs8.com\/assets\/shared-images\/icons\/arrow-circle-down.svg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>&#13;<\/p>\n<p>                                            &#13;<br \/>\n                                                This story continues below.&#13;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was, you know, are you kidding me? This can&#8217;t happen to me,\u201d McBride recalled after receiving the news.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The prognosis was grim; with treatment, he might have about five years to live, but without it, he could face just two years. The cancer has metastasized to his lymph nodes because it was not caught early enough.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI never received a prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, test,\u201d McBride explained, emphasizing the importance of early detection.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He began receiving care through the Veteran Affairs (VA) system several years ago, but it wasn\u2019t until he insisted on a PSA test outside the VA system that his alarming levels were revealed.<\/p>\n<p>The American Cancer Society recommends that average-risk men start screening at age 50, but there is no automatic standard in place, leaving many men unchecked. Dr. Robert Princenthal, medical director of prostate imaging for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.radnet.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">RadNet<\/a>, underscored the confusion surrounding PSA screening, attributing it to shifting medical guidelines.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe government has created confusion by changing the goalposts regarding PSA screening,\u201d he said. \u201cA lot of primary care doctors and patients don&#8217;t know about it and forget to ask to get a PSA [screening].\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Princenthal noted that the PSA test is affordable\u2014around $10\u2014and usually covered by insurance for men aged 65 and older with Medicare. Prostate MRIs, which provide a more detailed look when cancer is suspected, are also widely covered.<\/p>\n<p>Statistics show that one in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, with rates even higher among Vietnam veterans. Symptoms can vary from changes in urination to fatigue or bone pain, but many early-stage cases show no symptoms at all, underscoring the need for regular screening.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf I can prevent other vets or other people in general from having to go through this, that&#8217;s one of my big objectives,\u201d McBride said in a plea for awareness.<\/p>\n<p>RadNet is holding an informational seminar on men&#8217;s health on Sept. 19.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The American Cancer Society recommends that average-risk men start screening at age 50, but there is no automatic&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":465496,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[74,76,75],"class_list":["post-465495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=465495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/465496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=465495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=465495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=465495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}