WORCESTER, Mass. — A Worcester urologist is sharing his experience of being diagnosed with and battling prostate cancer.

Dr. Mitchell Sokoloff, chair of Urology at UMass Memorial Medical Center, was diagnosed earlier this year and had surgery in April to remove the cancer.

He said men can develop prostate cancer as they get older, and certain risk factors include race and ethnicity and genetics or a family history.

He said it's a common cancer and there are ways to diagnose it early.

“Really, it's the screening side” said Sokoloff. “It's getting a PSA blood test. It's seeing your doctor. It's if you do have any urinary symptoms, noting those and making sure that you follow up in and see somebody. Because if one has prostate cancer, the sooner it's discovered, the sooner it's detected, the better the overall results will be.”

Sokoloff said Worcester County has among the highest rates of prostate cancer in the state.

He said part of it is due to the immigrant population and education is key to make sure members of the community are aware of the disease.