The significance of prostate cancer screening
Factors that can increase the chance of its development are the passing years, positive family history and race. Geographical factors also have significance. For instance, in Europe, frequency decreases from north to south.
The symptoms are not well-defined, they are similar to prostatitis and benign prostate enlargement. Therefore, it is important to visit a urologist specialist even with mild symptoms. As in the case of many other diseases, with prostate cancer, the sooner it gets treated, the higher the chance is for recovery.
Prostate cancer screening includes two basic examinations:
- Manual examination of the prostate (which is done from the direction of the rectum, with a finger
- Assessing the level of PSA (prostate specific antigen) from a blood sample. A high PSA level might indicate prostate cancer, but this can be influenced by inflammations or benign enlargement, therefore in itself it is not of diagnostic significance.
