A Guide On 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.

The prostate tumor is detected by carrying out various tests that should show its presence. The Digital-Rectal exam which is carried out by the doctor who inserts a finger in gloves which has been lubricated into the rectum. The doctor should be able to estimate the size of the prostate glands and tell if there's the presence of any abnormal features or lumps on the glands.

The prostate specific antigen which is made by the prostate in the blood is performed a test that measures its level of production. The higher the PSA levels in a patient the higher the chances of the cancerous growth present. The PSA levels could also be accelerated by other medical procedures and medication, sometimes age and race.

After the PSA based screening tests a patient may test positive for asymptomatic cancer which may or may not develop over time. This entirely depends on the patient.

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.

The PSA test could provide a fifty-fifty situation on the results they are not certain and may be true or false while in some cases cause harm on the patient. The false results may be caused by negative psychological situations that affect the patients such as continuous worry on the cancer situation. Biopsy is a form of treatment that the patients may undergo. They are likely to be exposed to urinary difficulties, fever, pain, bleeding and infections are advised to consult medical assistance and follow up if this happens. The long-term effect of the PSA screening is still uncertain. Studies carried out may have proven there's a low chance of the reduction of the cancer's mortality rate.

The screen detection and the treatment process of the tumor have caused most if not all effects experienced by most patients, they are too persistent and unprecedented thus may cause an early death.

Effects of the screen tests and also treatment process are experienced more than the benefits by the patients. Patients risk over treatment or over diagnosis of cancer due to the screening and treatment of a disease that would have remained asymptomatic all their lives. They risk going through health deteriorating effects.

Doctors and patients need to assess the balance between the advantages and disadvantages of early detection through the screen tests and early treatment. They are meant to determine if it provides chances of preventing death which are low or if it aggregates the prostate cancer through the persistent harm caused by the treatment procedures.




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