How is Prostate Cancer Detected and Diagnosed?
Prostate cancer can be found before a man has any symptoms. The two most commonly used tests are the digital rectal exam and the PSA test. For the digital rectal exam (DRE), a doctor feels the prostate through the rectum to find hard or lumpy areas. The prostate is a male sex gland, part of a man’s reproductive system. It is about the size of a walnut and is located below the bladder and in front of the rectum. Hard or lumpy areas may mean that cancer is present. The other test is a blood test used to detect a substance made by the prostate called prostate specific antigen (PSA). PSA is frequently at elevated levels in the blood of men who have prostate cancer. Together, these tests can detect many silent prostate cancers, those that have not caused symptoms. Neither of the screening tests for prostate cancer is perfect. Most men with mildly elevated PSA do not have prostate cancer, and many men with prostate cancer have normal levels of PSA. Also, the digital rectal exam can miss many
