How is prostate cancer screened?

Most men with prostate cancer have no symptoms which is why routine screening to catch the condition early is so important.

It’s typically best to discuss your individual risk and screening options with your health care provider. The American Cancer Society recommends that men make an informed decision after learning the possible benefits, risks and uncertainties of prostate cancer screening.

The screening discussions should take place at age 55-69 for men who are at average risk of prostate cancer and are expected to live at least 10 more years. The screening should be repeated every two years unless abnormal findings are present.

If you are at high risk for developing prostate cancer, your doctor may recommend screenings as early as 40 years old.

Since prostate cancer often grows slowly, men without symptoms who have less than a 10-year life expectancy should not be offered prostate cancer screening because they aren’t likely to benefit from it.

If your screening detects prostate cancer, it’s likely to be at an earlier stage than if no screening were done. Typically, the sooner cancer is found, the easier it is to treat.

However, there are some considerations:

• False positive PSA test results may lead to prostate biopsies in some men which can lead to a small risk of pain, infection and bleeding.
• Not all prostate cancers are the same. Some might grow quickly, but others prostate cancers grow so slowly that they would never cause any problems during a man’s lifetime.
• Sometimes early detection of prostate cancer may lead to overtreatment and side effects of surgery or radiation.

Dr. Bharat K. Shah is an internal medicine physician at Advocate Health Care.

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