An annual race to raise awareness and money for prostate cancer research returns to Foxfield on Sunday. The Steers 5K is named after Bill Steers, a former chair of the University of Virginia Department of Urology.
“One of the areas that he focused on was exercise and men’s health and actually improving men’s health and decreasing their chance of cancer and their chance of complications through exercise,” said Dr. Kirsten Greene, the current chair of the department.
More than one in eight men are diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point in their lifetime, but the odds of survival are high if the disease is detected early.
“It’s actually the most common cancer in the U.S. for men,” Greene said “That’s 313,000 new cases every year. And there’s about 35,000 deaths. And for our state of Virginia, that’s about 9,000 new cases a year.”
Dr. Greene said there are about 1,000 deaths a year from prostate cancer in Virginia. She said the number one thing people can do to reduce their risk is to get screened with a blood test because the disease can be present without showing symptoms.
“The guidelines right now are that if you are a high risk patient, meaning, like I said, family history, a known genetic mutation like BRCA or black or African ancestry, Start at age 40 and 40 to 75 is the current recommendation for high risk. For people who are normal risk, no risk factors that you know of, start at 45.”
Dr. Greene said that’s about ten years earlier than previous recommendations.
And if you are diagnosed, there are many options especially if the cancer has not spread.
“About half of men at new diagnosis don’t need treatment at all,” said Dr. Greene. “We do something called active surveillance where we follow the cancer really closely, get PSA blood tests, get an MRI and repeat biopsies serially.”
Treatment at UVA can include robotic surgery to remove the prostate gland or radiation therapy, but Dr. Greene said there is now the option of focal therapy.
“One thing that’s very interesting is the idea of using an energy source, either heat or cold or ultrasound waves, to kill a cancer within an organ, like the prostate, for example, and leave the organ intact and try not to damage structures,” Dr. Greene said.
The Steers 5K race will be held on a grassfield at Foxfield at 9 a.m. and is open to anyone over the age of six.
You can sign up for the event here and packet pick-up is on Friday from 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Random Row Brewery at 608 Preston Avenue. If you order a beer that night, the brewery will donate $1 for each pint.
Before you go: The time to write and research of this article is covered by paid subscribers to Charlottesville Community Engagement. In fact, this particular installment comes from the September 3, 2025 edition of the program. To ensure this research can be sustained, please consider becoming a paid subscriber or contributing monthly through Patreon.
Discover more from Information Charlottesville
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
