Cruisin' for a Cure combines cool cars and prostate cancer screenings

COSTA MESA, Calif. (KABC) -- It's a car show with a cause.

The annual Cruisin' for a Cure is back with classic and custom cars cruising into and around the fairgrounds.

The "cure" part is drawing attention to prostate cancer.

"We have tested well over 15,000 men, and saved over 6,000 men that had no idea that they had prostate cancer," said Debbie Baker, who co-founded the show back in 1999.

Baker's husband was diagnosed with the disease and died in 2009. Her idea was to get men into an environment they are familiar with, even if they aren't as familiar with a doctor's office.

A car show seemed like a perfect place to draw them in for testing.

"If you want to get your prostate checked, bring your car, what better way, bring the toys and get an exam," added Baker.

The testing is free and involves a simple blood test to detect PSA (prostate specific antigen) levels.

Men might be encouraged to take the test when they see the special blue shirts worn by survivors who have beaten prostate cancer.

"I was in a weird situation where only one of my five samples they took came back as cancerous, but my doctor said it was so aggressive that if I'd waited for a symptom, he'd be fighting to save my life," said Carson Lev, who had his cancer detected by blood test 20 years ago.

He'll be around during the show, among the other guys proudly wearing their blue shirts with "survivor" on the front.

If you go to any kind of a classic car show, you'll notice that a lot of the people there are men over the age of 40, and that's the group that needs to get tested for prostate cancer. It's a bit of a captive audience - guys hanging around most of the day at the show anyway.

"You might wait 10 to 15 minutes, but when you think about your life, all the stuff you're doing when you're busy with, that's probably the best 15 minutes you could spend," said Lev.

"There's nobody in the entire world that has ever done 1,000 PSA tests in one day," said Baker. "So we're hoping to go over the thousand mark, because we're the only ones that test that many in one day."

About the event

Cruisin' for a Cure will be held on Saturday, Sept. 9, at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa.

Gates open at 6 a.m. and the show lasts until 3:30 p.m. It costs $17 to get in and children under 12 get in for free. For more information, visit Cruisin' for a Cure's website.