The most commonly googled question related to prostate cancer is, What are the symptoms?
The truth is that in this modern era of PSA testing,prostate cancer has no symptoms whatsoever!
Prostate cancer is a totally silent process unless it is very advanced.
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How can so much misinformation exist?
And it isnt even necessary to have a blood test to know when testosterone levels are low.
Younger men whose PSA levels are above 2.5 should also probably have further evaluation.
Surprisingly, however, statistics clearly show that many men make the mistake of not regularly checking their PSA.
Now, doctors are detecting and quantifying early-stage prostate cancer with ever-increasing accuracy.
Screening is the most familiar role and it is a big deal.
Over 200,000 men are diagnosed annually because ofPSA screening.However, there are other uses.
One example is how PSA helps to define the cancers stage after prostate cancer is detected.
In men with cancer, a PSA level under 10 is associated with a moreindolenttype of prostate cancer.
Can an early diagnosis of cancer be bad?
This would not be a problem if the medical system was prepared to simply monitor these harmless cancers.
Neither of these conditions have anything to do with prostate cancer.
PSA Elevation From Large Prostate Glands
Big prostateglands produce more PSA than small prostate glands.
The best way to measure the size of the prostate is by using a scan.
And importantly, the biopsy can be targeted.Only one or two cores are required.
No more fishing through the rest of the gland with random needle sticks!
Men with clear scans can avoid a biopsy altogether.
Changing the policy from random biopsy to MP-MRI would solve the problem of over-diagnosis in men with high PSA.
Men over age 75 who are in good health should continue screening.
So what is the triggerlevel of PSAthat should lead to performing a scan?
The PSA blood test has far surpassed the wildest dreams of the doctors who discovered it.
Like any powerful tool, however, misuse can lead to over-treatment and unnecessary harm.
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