Men’s health charity Movember kicks off its annual fundraising campaign every November 1st, encouraging participants to grow moustaches throughout the month in the name of men’s health. While the cause has evolved from its humble beginnings, Movember continues to be rooted in prostate cancer awareness. To some, the charity may seem like just a bit of fun — something to ward off the winter blues while supporting a good cause. But Movember has played a significant role in not only driving global awareness for prostate cancer, but elevating the quality of treatments, increasing the diversity of research, and making prostate cancer one of the most widely-known cancers in men.
These moustaches, miles moved, and unique fundraising feats are not done in vain but are making a real difference in the lives of men living with prostate cancer all around the world.
Movember has been the catalyst for unparalleled global collaboration within the prostate cancer space over the last 10 years, leading to important scientific breakthroughs in treatment and research that have quite literally been made possible by the annual moustaches. In 2015, Movember established a global network of researchers from Canada to Australia, working to find more accurate, less invasive tests for prostate cancer. Current tests — like the PSA blood test — help diagnose the disease but can be unreliable, allowing for unnecessary biopsies or for some men’s cancers to go missed. By bringing the scientific community’s brightest minds together and enabling them to work in conjunction, Movember is hoping to find effective tests that allow clinicians to make better-informed decisions about their patients’ treatment.
Sharing knowledge of what works and what doesn’t not only reduces duplication of effort, it also allows scientists to build on each other’s learning. Thanks to this unique strategy, there are now some promising developments on the horizon. These include the results from a Canadian study, published earlier this year, and built on the findings of a European study, which found compelling evidence in favour of using MRI-guided biopsies. And in Calgary, a local physician’s office has signed up to act as a pilot site for a Movember- funded urine test developed in the U.K. that tells clinicians whether their patient is likely to need active treatment within the next five years.
And it’s not just in the bio-medical world that Movember-funded projects are changing the lives of prostate cancer patients. True North is a global website that aims to guide those living with prostate cancer through the experience, providing helpful information that allows users to make informed decisions, receive care, manage symptoms, and share lived experiences.
It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of Movember. But so often we forget that these moustaches, miles moved, and unique fundraising feats are not done in vain but are making a real difference in the lives of men living with prostate cancer all around the world.
