Oscar winner Gossett, Jr. addresses prostate cancer stigma before Congress

Oscar winner Gossett, Jr. addresses prostate cancer stigma before Congress

As health care reform continues to dominate agendas in Washington, a hearing today focused on prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. For American men, it is the second deadliest cancer after lung cancer, accounting for about 27,000 deaths last year. The health care reform bill under consideration might eliminate prostate cancer screenings that are currently available to millions of men. Participants in the House Committee on oversight and government reforms want to make sure issues involving men's health are not trimmed out of the reform bill. One advocate and prostate cancer survivor is Oscar-winning actor Louis Gossett, Jr. Sources estimate about 200,000 American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year, and about 28,000 will die from the disease.