What To Know About Prostate Cancer Screening

By Olive Pate


Major advances in health care have been achieved in our time. Prostate cancer screening refers to the procedure of detecting cancerous growth before the symptoms are clear. The cancerous growth may however take long to develop or fail to.

Tests are often carried out to view and tell the extent and presence of the prostate cancer. The first test to determine any abnormalities around the prostate glands and the presence of any lumps on the glands. This is referred to as the Digital-Rectal Exam carried out by a physician who introduces a lubricated finger with gloves to the rectum.

The degree of the prostate specific antigens which are also produced by the prostate in the blood are measured by the Prostate Specific Antigen test. This test examines the PSA levels and measures its relation to the cancer. They are higher in men with the tumor present in their glands. The PSA levels risk increasing due to certain issues such as medical processes and medications and in other situations age and race could affect them too.

The PSA based screening procedures may result in the detection of many cases of asymptomatic cancer. The asymptomatic cancer may result into a non-progressive or progressive tumor that would have otherwise remained asymptomatic.

The primary goal of cancer screening is to decrease the number of deaths caused by this disease. It would also reduce the development of the metastasizing disease. Men detected with cancerous growth are divided into three categories depending on how far the tumor has spread. Those who shall result in death despite speedy detection as well as treatment, those who survive in the absence of screening and those who eventually survive due to the early diagnosis and proper treatment. There's a smaller chance of survival even with the early diagnosis and treatment.

However the screening procedure may harm the patient in some cases. The PSA test mostly produces a fifty-fifty results that are not certain it may be true or false. These results are mostly brought up due to negative psychological situations such as constant worrying about cancer. Men who undergo biopsy may experience pain, fever, infections, urinary difficulties and bleeding and are required to consult medical help and require constant follow up. The long-term effect of the PSA screening is yet to be fully discovered. Although certain studies carried out have shown that the cancer's mortality reduction rates after the screens are very small.

The effects of the screen detected cancerous growth and the treatment process have been experienced by most men, they occur early and are too persistent and may expose the patient to a little or no risk to a premature death.

Men are constantly exposed to effects that are more than the benefits brought about by the screen tests and treatment procedures. Over treatment as a result of the screen tests and treatment processes cause the men to experience unexpectedly harmful effects that would interfere with the asymptomatic stage of the disease.

Balance between the benefits and detriments of early diagnosis and treatment is necessary in determining if there's a chance of survival for the patient or proves to be detrimental to the prostate tumor due to the constant harm caused by the medical procedures.




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