Screening for Prostate Cancer
Screening/Detection Information for Patients
Table of Contents
- What is Screening?
- What is screening?
- Purposes of this summary
- Prostate Cancer Screening
- Risk of prostate cancer
- Screening tests for prostate
cancer
- To Learn More
- What is PDQ?
- What is PDQ?
- How to use PDQ
Screening for cancer is examination (or
testing) of people for early stages in the development of cancer even though
they have no symptoms. Scientists have studied patterns of cancer in the
population to learn which people are more likely to get certain types of
cancer. They have also studied what things around us and what things we do in
our lives may cause cancer. This information sometimes helps doctors recommend
who should be screened for certain types of cancer, what types of screening
tests people should have, and how often these tests should be done. Not all
screening tests are helpful, and they often have risks. For this reason,
scientists at the National Cancer Institute are studying many screening tests
to find out how useful they are and to determine the relative benefits and
harms.
If your doctor suggests certain cancer
screening tests as part of your health care plan, this does not mean he or she
thinks you have cancer. Screening tests are done when you have no symptoms.
Since decisions about screening can be difficult, you may want to discuss them
with your doctor and ask questions about the potential benefits and risks of
screening tests and whether they have been proven to decrease the risk of
dying from cancer.
If your doctor suspects that you may have
cancer, he or she will order certain tests to see whether you do. These are
called diagnostic tests. Some tests are used for diagnostic purposes, but are
not suitable for screening people who have no symptoms.
The purposes of this summary on prostate cancer
screening are to:
- give information on prostate cancer and what
makes it more likely to occur (risk factors)
- describe prostate cancer screening methods
and what is known about their effectiveness
You can talk to your doctor or health care
professional about cancer screening and whether it would be likely to help
you.
The prostate is a gland in males that is
involved in the production of semen. It is located between the bladder and the
rectum. The normal prostate gland is the size of a walnut and surrounds the
urethra, the tube that carries urine from the bladder.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in
North American men (other than skin cancer). It is the second leading cause of
cancer death in men (after lung cancer). Both the number of new cases of
prostate cancer and the number of deaths due to prostate cancer have increased
in the past decade.
Anything that increases a person's chance of
developing a disease is called a risk factor. Some of these risk factors for
prostate cancer are as follows:
Age - Prostate cancer is rarely seen in men
younger than 50 years old. The chance of developing prostate cancer increases
as men get older.
Race - Black males are more likely to develop
prostate cancer than white males. Black males are also more likely to die of
prostate cancer than white males.
Family History of Prostate Cancer - A man whose
father, brother, or son has had prostate cancer has a higher-than-average risk
of developing prostate cancer.
Other potential risk factors include alcohol
consumption, vitamin or mineral interactions, and other dietary habits.
Digital Rectal Examination - A digital rectal
examination (DRE) is performed by a doctor during a regular office visit. For
this examination, the doctor inserts a gloved finger into the rectum and feels
the prostate gland through the rectal wall to check for bumps or abnormal
areas. Although this test has been used for many years, whether DRE is
effective in decreasing the number of deaths from prostate cancer has not been
determined.
Transrectal Ultrasonography - During this
examination, high-frequency sound waves are sent out by a probe about the size
of the index finger, which is inserted into the rectum. The waves bounce off
the prostate gland and produce echoes that a computer uses to create a picture
called a sonogram. Doctors examine the sonogram for echoes that might
represent abnormal areas. Whether ultrasonography is effective in decreasing
mortality from prostate cancer has not been determined.
PSA - For this test, a blood sample is drawn
and the amount of prostate- specific antigen (PSA) present is determined in a
laboratory. PSA is a marker that, if present in higher than average amounts,
may indicate prostate cancer cells. However, PSA levels may also be higher in
men who have noncancerous prostate conditions. Scientists are studying ways to
improve the reliability of the PSA test.
Because unnecessary treatment due to false
screening results could be harmful, research is being done to determine the
most reliable method for prostate cancer screening. For example, scientists at
the National Cancer Institute are studying the value of early detection by DRE
and PSA on reducing the number of deaths caused by prostate cancer.
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Radiation for Prostate Cancer - This is the web site of a private radiation
treatment center. It provides very useful information about seed implant
(brachytherapy).
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