Are you a man over 50? Ignore the headlines and get tested for prostate cancer.
Skipping the test is a bad idea, said Dr. Michael Dusing, urologist with St. Elizabeth Healthcare. What’s worse, men may falsely assume the test is part of regular checkups.
Ask for the PSA test
After age 40, every man should talk with his primary doctor about PSA tests and rectal exams to screen for prostate cancer, as well as any risk factors including a family history, said Dusing. By age 50, men should be asking to have the tests.
The exam and the PSA tool are still “very viable and useful tools when used in correct way,” said Dusing.
“But the first and foremost important thing for a man to realize is that in today’s medicine, prostate cancer is not being screened for,” he said. “I don’t know that it’s widely understood that the guidelines now say not to screen.”
Why you should be screened sooner
Prostate cancer is serious business and the facts can be complicated:
- It’s the second leading cause of cancer deaths in American men.
- Most men diagnosed with prostate cancer don’t die from it.
- It may not be treated at all. The patient and doctor may agree to monitor less-aggressive forms of the cancer.
A simple blood test measures the PSA – protein produced by the prostate. A high PSA can indicate cancer or other problems including an enlarged prostate, infection in the prostate, or urine retention. To be clear, an elevated PSA is not a cancer diagnosis. But, it is one tool for the doctors.
Why screening isn’t routine
A controversial decision a few years ago by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force about whether the test promotes unnecessary biopsies or makes men anxious about the possibility of cancer means than men are no longer routinely screened.
The decision was based on a “poorly designed study,” which reached a number of conclusions and then applied them to the entire population, said Dusing.
Some doctors may only check for prostate cancer if there are symptoms, including difficulty peeing and slow streams.
“The new onset of slow and weaken streams or hesitancy, and if he has not been screened, he certainly should discuss this with his primary care doctor. The hope would be, in the face of those symptoms, the primary care doctor would then be doing a rectal exam and a PSA or at least referring him to a urologist,” said Dusing.
Men ages 55-70 should be most concerned. The American Urological Association recommends prostate cancer screening with a rectal exam and PSA be done yearly or every other year.
