MONTREAL — Guy Carbonneau’s leadership efforts transcend his five-year captaincy of the Canadiens, now committed to helping spread awareness for men’s health.
Recently, the three-time Stanley Cup champion teamed up with Pros Talk Prostate, a men’s health campaign featuring former professional hockey players – including Wendel Clark and Lanny McDonald – to help educate and encourage Canadians to learn more about prostate health.
Carbonneau, who also serves as an analyst on RDS and a panelist on the channel's Hockey 360 and L'Antichambre shows, represents the organization in Quebec. Meanwhile, Clark and McDonald are ambassadors in Ontario and Western Canada, respectively.
“As [former] athletes, we’re able to help others. We have a platform and we’re able to communicate messages,” Carbonneau said.
The campaign offers Canadians need-to-know information on the most recent advancements in prostate cancer screening tests, biomarkers, and terminology. Biomarkers can help doctors diagnose cancer and determine if it’s progressed, but they do not make the diagnoses themselves. Consider them objective indicators of a patient’s medical state or, to put it in simpler terms, detective clues inside your body.
The prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test is the most widely used prostate cancer biomarker, however several others are also now available. The prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) test is used to help assess advanced prostate cancer.
“PSMA is a relatively recent development. There has been significant research in the field over the last few years, and [the test] is now available to detect and localize recurrences of prostate cancer,” said Dr. Jean-Baptiste Lattouf from the Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal’s Urology department. “It's not a blood test, it's an imaging test. [It allows us] to catch it at a much earlier stage than with conventional tests. With PSMA, we can diagnose the cancer a little earlier, and possibly target treatment more specifically.”
For anyone with advanced prostate cancer, or with a history of prostate cancer, it's particularly important to have an informed discussion with their healthcare team.
Carbonneau’s commitment to spreading awareness for men’s health underscores the significance of the League’s alumni beyond their playing days.
“One of the challenges, be it with prostate cancer or another kind of cancer, is spreading information,” explained the Hall of Famer. “Because I'm on TV and on the radio, I have the opportunity to reach more people and I think it's normal to want to give back to people.”
According to the Canada Cancer Society, prostate cancer is the most frequently detected cancer in Canadian men and is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men in Canada. This year alone, more than 25,000 Canadians will be diagnosed with prostate cancer. For more information and resources, visit prostationcanada.ca.
