In this world, where we are surrounded by toxic substances, it is an everyday struggle to stay healthy and avert the risks of cancer.

Prostate gland is an organ of male reproductive system that helps in the nourishment of sperms. Prostate cancer is quite common among the cancers in males.

There are certain prevalent tests that can detect the early onset of cancerous cells in your prostate.

Are you wondering about what these tests are? Or where to get them done? And if they are essential or not? Karepedia is here to educate you on the importance of early detection of prostate cancer.

Let’s see in detail what these tests are and how it can be a blessing to medical science in preventing critical stage prostate cancer.

What is a PSA Test?

PSA or Prostate Specific Antigen is the component that is found in abnormal amounts in the blood of someone who is in the early stage of prostate cancer.

PSA is produced by the prostate cells. Cancerous cells of the prostate will produce more of this antigen into the bloodstream. It is considered the gold standard test for early detection of prostate cancer.

As per urologists, your blood PSA levels are considered to be normal based on age of the person like:

• Less than 60 years men — Blood PSA level of less than or equal to 2.5 ng/ml.

• More than 60 years men — Blood PSA level of less than or equal to 4.0 ng/ml.

There are several schools of thoughts regarding the effectiveness and utility of these tests. Let’s clear it out here in this blog.

How Does PSA Test Contribute to Early Detection of Prostate Cancer?

Well, to keep yourself healthy and happy we must take some precautionary steps and get some routine tests done. If you are a man, one such step is getting tests done for your prostate.

If you experience any discomfort regarding your prostate gland, it's absolutely wise to get yourself tested. PSA is the safe and reliable test that tells you the level of a particular protein in your blood. The higher the level, the higher the chance of having prostate cancer.

Though there are cases of high PSA level, yet the man is perfectly healthy and also lower levels of PSA in a man suffering from advanced stage prostate cancer.

There are several factors that can differ the results, but presently PSA is the gold standard test accompanied by DRE or Digital Rectal Examination to detect early-stage prostate cancer.

Rigorous research is going on to bring clinical tests to detect cancer at an early stage. This will definitely bring down the patient load to treat and save several lives with better outcomes.

What To Do If An Elevated PSA Level Is Detected?

If you get the results of Blood PSA to be abnormally elevated, you don’t need to panic. Chances are it may be due to some other factors like:

• False Positive Results.
• You are taking certain medications that are altering the PSA levels in your blood.
• May be suffering from some infections (earlier believed).

Whatever may be the reason, consulting your physician is very important. They may advise you to repeat the test after a few days or weeks.

If you get similar results on repetitions of the test, you may be asked to undergo DRE or Digital Rectal Examinations, where your urologist will feel your prostate gland for any lump or inflammation by inserting a gloved finger through your rectum.

If any abnormality is found on both DRE and PSA, medical steps are taken, else kept under observation. Moreover, your doctor will also consider a number of other factors to evaluate your PSA scores:

• Your age. (older people tend to have increased chance of developing prostate cancer)
• Your family history of prostate cancer. (if your father or brother had any, your risk is multiplied)
• Your prostate gland size. (If any lump is present or not)
• Results of repeated tests (How frequently the value us changing or remains same)
• If you are under any medications that may give altered results.

If the doctor suspects that the man is developing malignancy in his prostate, further tests like MRI and ultrasonography are recommended to rule out the worst.

If cancer is highly suspected, prostate biopsy is done, where a tissue is retrieved from the gland to study it under microscope for presence of any malignant cells.

What Increases The Risk of Prostate Cancer?

There are several risk factors that are responsible for prostate cancer, like:

• Age The older you get, the risk of developing prostate cancer keeps on increasing. It’s not a compulsory factor, but your chance of having the dreadful disease is more than a young man. After age 50, your chance of having prostate cancer is more than below 50.

• Race and ethnicity Some cancers run in your ethnicity. The reason for that isn’t well-understood, yet black men are often found to be at more risk of developing prostate cancer. Such men need to keep special care of their prostate and get regular tests done as per physicians’ advice.

• Family history Also, some cancer runs in genes. If any of your close family members like your father, uncle or brother has been diagnosed with prostate cancer before the age of 65, your risk of the disease is greater than the average man. The reason behind such is still not known clearly.

• Inherited mutated gene The genes that are responsible for mutations associated with prostate cancer are BRCA1 and BRCA2. Yes, these are the genes that are also responsible for breast cancer in females. The same gene counterpart may also give you prostate cancer if you are a male. It's better to know if you have any of those toxic mutated genes and take precautions accordingly.

• Diet and exercise Diet always plays some or the other role in your health. Same goes for physical activity. If your diet includes more animal fat and less green leafy vegetables along with a sedentary lifestyle that makes you obese, unfortunately, you pose a risk to develop prostate cancer.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Early Prostate Cancer Screening

There are ways we can keep ourselves healthy. To prevent yourself from suffering at the extreme stage of cancer, it is definitely wise to do regular health check-ups.

Not only your prostate, every organ of your body demands to be checked for its health. The phrase” Prevention is better than cure” will always remain true for ages to come.