Prostate Cancer

Prostate Cancer Screening

Should You Get Prostate Cancer Screening?

There are a variety of factors that go into a persons decision to have prostate cancer screening done, but by having the right facts and factors you can make a wise decision. It is also best to ask your doctor if you need to have prostate cancer screening, but don’t think you will get a simple answer since there will be some discussion involved. Not every individual need to have prostate cancer screening done regularly.

If a man has another serious disease that shortens their life expectancy then screening may not be necessary. There are some men who even live a long healthy life without ever knowing they have prostate cancer, eventually dying of something other than prostate cancer. While one in six will become diagnosed with prostate cancer only about thirty-three percent will die from it. The reason for this is that early treatment is effective and other conditions can cause death before prostate cancer.

Men may not show any signs or symptoms of prostate cancer if it grows too slow which also means it won’t become a threat to a mans length and quality of life. When it comes to these conditions you can see why it isn’t necessary for everyone to have prostate cancer screening. However, since prostate cancer screening has become available the death rate has decreased for prostate cancer. Although this doesn’t mean that screening can catch all cases of prostate cancer and it won’t help those who have aggressive forms of prostate cancer. You and your doctor can look into the sufficient information to make a reasonable decision about prostate cancer screening.

What Is It?

Both the cancerous and non-cancerous prostate tissue produces a protein called prostate-specific antigen or PSA. This is a protein that helps to liquefy semen and helps it to enter the bloodstream at certain rates depending on the prostate health. This means that PSA isn’t specific only to prostate cancer. However, the PSA levels will typically be higher with prostate cancer than with non-cancerous tissue. However, even aggressive forms of prostate cancer may not produce PSA so it is important to still have a digital rectal exam.

Other factors influence the results of the testing, such as the size of a person’s prostate and how quickly the PSA levels change. It is important to have a physician who is experienced in interpreting PSAs since there is a complexity within the relating factors. An experienced doctor can properly evaluate your situation and avoid any unnecessary or inappropriate invasive testing and treatment.