Detection of prostate cancer
There are a couple different ways that a person can detect if they have prostate cancer. First is the non-official way of detection. This is when a man experiences some or many of the symptoms that are often seen when a man has prostate cancer. After a man experiences these symptoms, he should contact his health care provider as soon as possible.
When the man goes in for his doctor appointment, there are some tests that the doctor will perform to see if the man does have prostate cancer. One of the tests that the doctor may perform to find out if the man has prostate cancer is called the digital rectal examination or DRE. The doctor could also perform a prostate-specific antigen test or the PSA. This article will discuss in more detail the detection of prostate cancer.
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Symptoms
There are a lot of symptoms that a man may experience if he has prostate cancer. Some of the symptoms may be visible to the man when he is having sexual intercourse. A man may experience pain during ejaculation, or blood may be apparent in his semen. Some men have back, hip, or pelvic pain. Instead of pain, other men feel stiffness in their hip or back.
Many of the symptoms of prostate cancer can also be seen during urination. Some men have a frequent urge to urinate. There could be less force in the urine stream, dribbling of a man's urine when he first begins to urinate or when he has finished, or there could be blood or pus in his urine. Sometimes urinating can even be painful.
When a man exhibits a few or several of these symptoms he should make his doctor aware of what he is experiencing as soon as possible. Experiencing symptoms of prostate cancer is only the first step in the detection of prostate cancer. A man can never know for sure if he does or does not have prostate caner without getting tested by his doctor.
Tests
During the digital rectal examination (DRE) the doctor, wearing a lubricated glove, inset a finger into the man's rectum. The best way for the doctor to reach the prostate for this test, is through the anus and up into the lower part of the large intestine. The doctor will feel the prostate gland. If the prostate gland feels harder than normal it is possible that the man does have prostate cancer. But, most likely, this will not be the only test a doctor will perform. Sometimes a man's prostate gland is on the harder side and he does not have prostate cancer.
The prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test is a blood test. This blood test will tell the doctor the amount of prostate-specific antigen a man has in his blood. The prostate-specific antigen is a type of protein. This protein is made by prostate cells. If there is a high level of prostate-specific antigen in the man's blood, it is possible that he has prostate cancer. This test, just as with the digital rectal examination, is not one hundred percent accurate. It is possible for a man to have a high level of prostate-specific antigen in his blood and not have prostate cancer.
If a man's prostate gland does feel harder than normal during a digital rectal examination, and if he has a high level of prostate-specific antigen in his blood, his doctor may refer him to a urologist. The urologist may do a prostate biopsy. A prostate biopsy is when the surgeon will take a small piece of the prostate tissue and test it for cancer.
