Prostate Screening
The only way to confirm if you have any problems with your prostate is through what is called prostate screening. There is no standard test to check for problems so a variety of these are used on the patient.
The first one is called the digital rectal exam. Here, the doctor or nurse will insert a lubricated gloved finger into the rectum to feel if the prostate has lumps or anything unusual. In most cases, prostate cancer is already in its advanced stages, which means there is little else that the doctor can do to help the patient.
This prompted doctors to find a better way to conduct prostate screening. The introduction of the PSA test or prostate specific antigen enabled doctors to detect problems in its earlier stages so medical treatment can begin.
For some time, patients that had a score of above 4 could mean that you may have cancer present in the body.
The PSA test is not 100% accurate because the score could be affected by a lot of things, which is why, further prostate screening has to be done. Since other methods are still in their clinical trial, the PSA test score has been changed to 2.5 so anything above that should already be alarming for both the doctor and the patient.
The best way to confirm if the patient indeed has cancer is through a prostate gland biopsy. A small sample will be removed from the prostate and then examined under a microscope.
This is usually done if the patient has lumps after conducting a digital rectal exam or if the PSA levels are high.
Treatment for any problems in the prostate will then be presented to the patient. If cancer should be detected in its early stages, local therapy, surgery or even radiation therapy will be administered.
Prostate screening doesn’t end after treatment even if PSA levels drop bringing them back to normal conditions. This is because they may recur again so patients are advised to come in for checkup every 3 months for the next few years.
It is only if they remain stable over time that the person is out of the woods and cut the prostate screening from every quarter to once every 6 months.
Should prostate screening tests show that it does recur, this is the time doctors will offer androgen deprivation or hormonal therapy. This is designed to prevent the production of testosterone on the prostate cancer cells.
There are two ways how this can happen. The first is by removing the testicles while the other is by simply taking hormonal medication.
One drug that has been tested is called Pertuzumab. Initial results have shown this can extend the survival rate of an individual by up to 75% that is an improvement because others can only guarantee less than 50%.
Sadly, this doesn’t always work. People who have this are now suffering from hormone refractory prostate cancer and over the past 2 years; doctors have been using chemotherapy and the insertion of a radioisotope into the bone to help the lives of patients.
Prostate screening serves as a warning mechanism to alert men in they have an enlarged prostate or cancer. The system may not be perfect but this is the best that medical science has come up with so far to extend the life of a patient for a few more months.
Prostate Tip #1
As men age, they should think about prostate problem prevention since men in their fifties have a higher risk of developing an enlarged prostate or even cancer. It takes less money to prevent a disease from happening rather than treating it.
Prostate Tip #2
It will be in your best interests to get a prostate screening annually from your physician once you reach age 45 to determine if you have any problems with your prostate. This will also help your physician detect any cancer while it is still in its early stages.