Filmmaker Landi Maduro on "The Silent Killer," Prostate Cancer

Today, Dr. Michael Lutz's guest is award-winning filmmaker Landi Maduro.  Her documentary, The Silent Killer: Prostate Cancer in the African American Community has been screened by the Congressional Black Caucus and has been used by health care professionals and scholars educating on healthcare disparities and prostate cancer survivorship.

As a Black female, Landi got involved with this topic when her filmmaking partner, Chris Edwards, learned of his father's prostate cancer diagnosis.   Then, within 6 months of working on the film, Landi's own father was diagnosed with the same disease.

Armed with what she learned making the movie, Landi took an active role in her father's treatment and care.   And when the movie came out, she found a number of females actively engaged with it - those helping to care for a spouse or other family member.

In researching her film, Landi heard every excuse in the book for why men, particularly Black men, don't get screened for prostate cancer.  She set out to attack those excuses, one by one, leaning on clergy and other community leaders to get the message out.  She also featured a number of prostate cancer patients, all but one of whom survived.

Another focus of today's guest is sharing family history.  For many, they don't know what their relatives died from.  And knowing this history can lead to more advanced and preventative screening.

We also touch on an important subject in underserved communities - disparities in treatment.  While Landi's father was undergoing active surveillance for his prostate cancer, his team found pancreatic cancer.  They gave him a death sentence.  It was a sentence that Dad accepted, but his daughter would not.   She advocated for him, found him the best treatment, and he's still here.  It's also important for Black men to participate in clinical trials, despite some very ugly history in that area.  This is a prioirty for Landi as a member of the ZERO Prostate Cancer Health Equity Task Force.

More information:

ZERO Prostate Cancer Health Equity Task Force Website: https://zerocancer.org/our-mission-impact/zero-team/health-equity-task-force

The Silent Killer documentary on Tubi: https://tubitv.com/movies/100003487/the-silent-killer-prostate-cancer-in-the-african-american-community

MIU Men's Health Foundation Website:https://www.miumenshealthfoundation.org/