The Male Bag Foundation's gift of $60,000 to Dubbo Hospital reflects the battle to reduce the incidence of prostate cancer in men in the Western NSW Local Health District (WNSWLHD).
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The grant will help pay for a Transperineal Biopsy Machine (TBM) which the foundation reports will allow the hospital to offer patients the "leading prostate cancer biopsy procedure".
WNSWLHD chief executive Scott McLachlan, Cancer Council Western NSW community programs coordinator Camilla Thompson and facilitator of the Dubbo Prostate Cancer Support Group John Allen have applauded the move.
Cancer Institute NSW data reveals the course of the battle against prostate cancer in the WNSWLHD between 1972 and 2015.
In 2015 the rate of incidence of the disease was 166.7 per 100,000 men, down from a 30-year peak of 206.2 in 2009.
In comparison, Sydney Local Health District's incidence rate was 129.7 in 2015 after a peak of 164.1 in 1995.
Between 2011 and 2015 prostate cancer was the most common type of cancer for men in in the WNSWLHD.
There were 1479 cases of prostate cancer representing 29.8 per cent of all cancer cases.
The second most common cancer among men in the same period was lung cancer with 518 cases representing 10.4 per cent of all cancer cases.
The foundation, a not-for-profit charity working to reduce the impact of prostate cancer on regional communities, reports the incidence of the disease in the WNSWLHD is "unacceptably high" and men are forced to travel to major cities for a TBM procedure.
Mr McLachlan said the $60,000 would "ensure that advanced biopsy services will be available in Dubbo in a just few months".
“The provision of TBM biopsy services boosts services being delivered in the WNSWLHD," he said.
Ms Thompson welcomed treatment closer to home.
"Any sustainable improvements to cancer services in Western NSW that ultimately reduces the impact and burden of cancer placed on families, due to not having to travel or stay away from home, is a very positive thing," she said.
Mr Allen said the foundation's support was "fabulous".
"On behalf of the support group and the community I would like to thank the Male Bag Foundation for their generosity in providing this machine to Dubbo Hospital to further help the lives of men who are probably going the way of a prostate cancer diagnosis," he said.