Prostate Cancer Screening    

Prostate Cancer
Who should be screened?
The American Cancer Society suggests the following guidelines for early detection of prostate cancer:

TABLE HERE
Population
Test or Procedure
Frequency
Men, age 50+
Digital rectal examination & prostate specific antigen test
The PSA test and the DRE should be offered annually, starting at age 50, for men who have a life expectancy of at least 10 years.

Your health care provider should discuss the benefits and limitations of testing with you so that you can make an informed decision about testing. If you are at high risk for prostate cancer (you are African-American or have a father or brother with prostate cancer at a young age), you should begin having these tests at age 45.
What is prostate cancer?
Like other cancers, prostate cancer is a disease of cells growing out of control. Spurred by changes in the genes, the glandular cells of the prostate multiply abnormally. These cancer cells may cross tissue barriers and may then spread throughout the body.
For more information on prostate cancer, click here.
Who Is At Risk?
Most cases of prostate cancer occur in men older than 50, and more than 70% of these cases are in men over 65. For reasons that are still unknown, African-American men are significantly more likely than white men to develop prostate cancer and are more than twice as likely to die from it. Having one or more close relatives with prostate cancer also increases a man’s risk of developing this disease.