Jérôme Salomon, Chief Medical and Science Officer at Zoī, shared on LinkedIn:
“Movember isn’t about moustaches. It’s about men who are diagnosed too late.
Every November, we talk about men’s health.
Here are the numbers behind it, and what early detection can change.
Prostate cancer: the most common cancer in men in most countries
Nearly 1.5 million new cases and close to 400,000 deaths worldwide each year, GLOBOCAN 2022.
In high-income countries, it accounts for about 1 in 5 cancers diagnosed in men.
Found early, it is highly curable. Found late, it is not.
→ From age 50 (45 with a family history or African ancestry), talk to your doctor about PSA testing.
Modern pathways that combine PSA, risk calculators and MRI reduce both late diagnoses and unnecessary biopsies.
Testicular cancer: the cancer of young men
About 72,000 new cases per year worldwide, peaking between ages 15 and 40.
It is the most common cancer in men aged 15–44 in dozens of countries, and its incidence keeps rising.
The good news: cure rates exceed 95%, especially when it is caught early.
→ Monthly self-examination takes 2 minutes.
A painless lump, swelling or heaviness should prompt a medical visit, not a wait-and-see approach.
Platinum-Based Chemotherapy: Drugs, Cancer Types, How It Works, and Side Effects
HPV: not just a women’s issue
HPV causes cancers of the throat (oropharynx), anus and penis in men.
HPV-related throat cancers are several times more frequent in men than in women, and in some countries they now outnumber cervical cancers.
There is no screening test for them, so prevention is everything.
→ HPV vaccination is recommended for boys as well as girls. It is one of the very few vaccines that prevents cancer.
The common thread?
Men consult later, screen less, and too often ignore warning signs.
Early detection doesn’t just improve survival. It also means lighter treatments, preserved fertility and better quality of life.
As the world prepares to choose the next Director-General of the World Health Organization, we need a true champion of prevention and evidence-based screening, accessible to every population, because what truly matters is not just how long we live, but how many of those years we live in good health.
Health for all and a longer healthy life expectancy for all (HALE)!
This Movember, do one thing:
- Book the check-up you’ve been postponing
- Learn how to self-examine
- Check your son’s HPV vaccination status
- Share this with a man who needs to read it.”
