Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, BETHESDA, MD  –   Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Eric Morrow knows what it means to face an uphill climb and come out on top.

Diagnosed with high-risk prostate cancer in 2021 when he was 49, Morrow credits the presidential care he received at the Center for Prostate Disease Research (CPDR) at Walter Reed and across the National Capital Region (NCR) for his now cancer-free status.

This month, Morrow will join a team of prostate cancer survivors in an attempt to reach the top of another climb – the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania – Africa’s highest ascent and the tallest free-standing mountain in the world at 19,341 feet above sea level. For him, the climb is more than an adventure. It’s a statement not only to draw greater awareness to prostate cancer but also show that it’s survivable.

“Prostate cancer is life changing but not life ending,” Morrow said, adding that there are many ways survivors can “continue to live, be active, and take on great challenges” following diagnosis and treatment.

Morrow encourages men, especially those at higher risk, to start conversations with their doctors early about the disease. He added that once symptoms of prostate cancer appear, including difficulty urinating, a weak urine stream, blood in the urine or semen, bone pain, or unexpected weight loss, it often means the cancer has likely spread beyond the prostate to other parts of the body.

“Prostate cancer affects every one in eight American men. For African American men, that number goes up to every one in six, and for veterans that number goes up to every one in five,” explained Morrow, who now educates and counsels other men about the disease. “For anyone in a high-risk group for prostate cancer, such as men with a family history [of prostate cancer], African American men and veterans, I would encourage them to begin talking to their doctor by age 40 about PSA screening because that’s really the first step to knowing whether there is a more serious problem.”

He credits the Military Health System (MHS) with saving his life after being diagnosed with Stage 3b prostate cancer.

“I remember sitting in this chair in the CPDR four years ago and being afraid I was going to die,” Morrow recalled. “By all metrics, my treatment has been wildly successful, and I currently exhibit no evidence of the disease.”

That was not the case in 2021 when Morrow’s primary care physician at Alexander T. Augusta Military Medical Center at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, referred him for a colonoscopy at Kimbrough Ambulatory Care Center at Fort Meade, Maryland. “When I woke up from that [procedure] the doctor said, ‘Your colon looks great, but your prostate is a little enlarged so you might want to see a urologist about that,’” he remembered.

Morrow followed that advice and was screened by a urologist at Malcolm Grow Medical Clinics and Surgery Center at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, where his cancer diagnosis was made and he was referred to the CPDR, part of the John P. Murtha Cancer Center of Excellence at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

“My success story is an NCR success story,” said Morrow, whose treatment included 39 sessions of external beam radiotherapy and two years of androgen deprivation therapy after the cancer had spread from his prostate to his pelvic lymph nodes. “Although it’s life altering, prostate cancer doesn’t have to be life limiting,” he said. “You can still do big things after cancer. He is quick to praise the medical team at CPDR and their multidisciplinary approach to care.

“I can’t say enough great things about my cancer treatment experience in the MHS in general and at the CPDR at Walter Reed in particularly,” Morrow continued. “The [CPDR] brings in a nurse educator, genetics counselor, registered dietitian, clinical researchers, urological oncologist, radiation oncologist, and licensed clinical social worker [for your care]. This is special. That type of multidisciplinary approach in which you meet your treatment team over the course of a day does not happen at many other places around the country but should be the model for patient care nationwide.”

U.S. Navy Capt. (Dr.) Gregory Chesnut, CPDR director, calls it an honor to lead the Department of Defense’s only Prostate Cancer Center of Excellence. “I get to work with a world-class team of clinicians, scientists, pathologists, radiologists, and medical/radiation oncologists to help build holistic and comprehensive tiers of treatment – and that is truly exciting,” he said. “I simply could not imagine a more meaningful and rewarding job. I really do have a deep respect for my patients, for the complicated disease that is cancer, and for the physical and emotional turmoil that a cancer diagnosis can have on an entire family. I hope that our patients can feel that commitment and connection with every encounter we have with them,” he added.

For more information about the CPDR at Walter Reed, call 301-319-2900 or 301-319-2901.