SAINT JOHN - A number of prominent men in the city are taking off their pants to get people talking - not about their boxers, but about prostate cancer.

For the first time in its 22-year history, the Rally of Hope is supporting a project to benefit an issue only affecting male health. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer for men in Canada, with 23,000 cases diagnosed every year, resulting in 4,300 deaths annually.

The Saint John Regional Hospital Foundation, a charity that raises money for health care through its annual Rally of Hope, convinced a number of men to pose for well-known photographer Martin Flewwelling in boxer shorts for ads to support the rally.

This year, the foundation is raising money to bring Brachythearpy to the hospital at a cost of $500,000. It involves implanting radioactive seeds in the prostate targeting the treatment right next to a tumour, a much less invasive procedure than anything currently available in the city.

James Brittain is a prostate cancer survivor and now one of the poster boys hoping to get people behind the campaign.

Last August he was diagnosed with the disease after showing signs that his risk level was rising for a couple of year. His prostate was surgically removed in September and he has been told he is now cancer-free.

The operation has left him with an incontinence problem, but he hopes to be back to where he was before the operation in a couple of months.

Prostate cancer is detected with blood tests and through a physical exam that involves a doctor feeling the gland through the wall of the rectum with a latex gloved finger.

Men joke about the fact that the sound of someone snapping on latex gloves makes them jumpy, but it is not a joking matter. Not only is prostate cancer the most common one in men, it is expected to double over the next 15 years, said Dr. Tom Whelan, a urologist in the city.

"Contributing to this sad situation is that men don't talk about their health the way women do and its killing them," he said.

Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer of internal organs in the province, said John Irving, chairman of the Saint John Regional Hospital Foundation.

He encouraged men to have yearly exams for the disease because if it is found in time it is treatable. If men stay away from their doctors, then the medical system has no chance to help.

Last year, the rally brought out 2,000 people who raised $651,300 to fund equipment for minimally invasive spinal surgery. Since it started in 1986, the rally has raised more than $14 million for local health care, said Stephen Titus, chairman of this year's event.

The rally will take place on June 21 and teams can register to take part either in a survivor challenge or a walking challenge.

Information is available by phoning the foundation at 648-6400 or visiting the website at www.rallyofhope.ca