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Prostate Cancer Screening and Diagnosis Health Information
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Prostate Cancer Screening and Diagnosis Health Information

Prostate Cancer Screening and Diagnosis

Our urologists and cancer specialists at Doylestown Health's Cancer Institute strongly urge men to discuss prostate cancer screening relative to their personal risks and circumstances with their primary care physician.

Doctors frequently screen men for prostate cancer even when they do not have symptoms because the cancer is common and curable when detected early. However, for many years national and international medical experts in the United States and abroad have debated the risks and benefits associated with prostate cancer screening.

Because prostate cancer grows very slowly, many men develop the disease later in life and may not have notable symptoms. A debate centers on whether treatment may cause more problems or unwanted side effects, such as erectile dysfunction or urinary incontinence, than the cancer itself. Conversely, when prostate cancer is detected early, usually it stays confined to the prostate gland and doctors can treat and cure the disease.

Health Information

Prostate Cancer Screening Tests
Diagnosing Prostate Cancer

Prostate Cancer Screening Tests

If you and your physician decide that you should get screened for prostate cancer, your physician will likely perform certain tests including:

  • Digital rectal exam (DRE): The prostate is the size of a walnut and located underneath the bladder in front of the rectum. Because the prostate is close to the rectum, your physician can perform a physical exam that detects lumps, enlargement or other abnormalities. Your physician will recommend further testing, if necessary.
  • Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test: The prostate produces PSA, which is a protein primarily found in semen and in minimal amounts in the blood. Changes to PSA levels in a PSA test could signify the presence of prostate cancer. However, elevated PSA levels can also stem from other problems such as a man's age, inflammation, urinary tract infections, an enlarged prostate or benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), or biopsies.

DRE and PSA tests may help your doctor identify prostate cancer at an early stage. The results of these screening tests can help you and your physician make decisions about your care.

Diagnosing Prostate Cancer

If the results of a screening test indicate prostate cancer, your physician will most likely recommend a transrectal ultrasound and biopsy to make a diagnosis. These diagnostic tests are performed in your doctor’s office and are fully available at Doylestown Hospital:

  • Transrectal ultrasound: This test uses a small probe, about the size and shape of a cigar. The probe is inserted into the rectum to take images of the prostate.
  • Prostate biopsy: Your doctor will use ultrasound images as a guide to insert a needle to retrieve six to 12 thread-like pieces of prostate gland tissue. A pathologist evaluates the samples and determines if cancer is present and grades the aggressiveness of the cancer using a scoring system called the Gleason score. The score ranges from two (non-aggressive) to 10 (very aggressive). Scores between four and six are most common. The higher the number, the more likely the cancer will spread.

Tests to stage cancer often take place after prostate cancer is diagnosed. These tests may not be recommended if it is unlikely the cancer will spread beyond the prostate. Prostate cancers are staged using three criteria:

  • How far the cancer has spread beyond the prostate
  • If cancer has spread to the lymph nodes in areas near the prostate
  • If cancer has spread to organs distant from the prostate

If cancer has spread, urologists and cancer specialists at our Cancer Institute may immediately recommend treatment strategies specific to your situation. In other instances, doctors conduct more tests to determine the best treatment approaches, such as:

  • Bone scan: This test evaluates the skeleton in order to determine whether cancer has spread to the bone.
  • Computerized tomography (CT) scan: This test evaluates if prostate cancer has spread to the tissues adjacent to the prostate gland, the pelvic lymph nodes, the skeleton or other organs such as the brain or spinal cord.
  • Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): An MRI is another imaging strategy that your doctor may recommend and is similar to the CT scan.

Health Information

If you and your physician decide that you should get screened for prostate cancer, your physician will likely perform certain tests including:

  • Digital rectal exam (DRE): The prostate is the size of a walnut and located underneath the bladder in front of the rectum. Because the prostate is close to the rectum, your physician can perform a physical exam that detects lumps, enlargement or other abnormalities. Your physician will recommend further testing, if necessary.
  • Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test: The prostate produces PSA, which is a protein primarily found in semen and in minimal amounts in the blood. Changes to PSA levels in a PSA test could signify the presence of prostate cancer. However, elevated PSA levels can also stem from other problems such as a man's age, inflammation, urinary tract infections, an enlarged prostate or benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), or biopsies.

DRE and PSA tests may help your doctor identify prostate cancer at an early stage. The results of these screening tests can help you and your physician make decisions about your care.

If the results of a screening test indicate prostate cancer, your physician will most likely recommend a transrectal ultrasound and biopsy to make a diagnosis. These diagnostic tests are performed in your doctor’s office and are fully available at Doylestown Hospital:

  • Transrectal ultrasound: This test uses a small probe, about the size and shape of a cigar. The probe is inserted into the rectum to take images of the prostate.
  • Prostate biopsy: Your doctor will use ultrasound images as a guide to insert a needle to retrieve six to 12 thread-like pieces of prostate gland tissue. A pathologist evaluates the samples and determines if cancer is present and grades the aggressiveness of the cancer using a scoring system called the Gleason score. The score ranges from two (non-aggressive) to 10 (very aggressive). Scores between four and six are most common. The higher the number, the more likely the cancer will spread.

Tests to stage cancer often take place after prostate cancer is diagnosed. These tests may not be recommended if it is unlikely the cancer will spread beyond the prostate. Prostate cancers are staged using three criteria:

  • How far the cancer has spread beyond the prostate
  • If cancer has spread to the lymph nodes in areas near the prostate
  • If cancer has spread to organs distant from the prostate

If cancer has spread, urologists and cancer specialists at our Cancer Institute may immediately recommend treatment strategies specific to your situation. In other instances, doctors conduct more tests to determine the best treatment approaches, such as:

  • Bone scan: This test evaluates the skeleton in order to determine whether cancer has spread to the bone.
  • Computerized tomography (CT) scan: This test evaluates if prostate cancer has spread to the tissues adjacent to the prostate gland, the pelvic lymph nodes, the skeleton or other organs such as the brain or spinal cord.
  • Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): An MRI is another imaging strategy that your doctor may recommend and is similar to the CT scan.