Overview Of Prostate Cancer

Prostate Cancer Screening

Two primary tests are used in prostate cancer screening to look for malignancy. A traditional test used is a digital rectal examination. This test allows a physician to feel the surface of the patient's prostate through the wall of the large intestine for any structural or anatomical abnormalities. The other diagnostic test is the prostate-specific antigen blood test, a test that measures the quantity of a specific protein produced in the prostate. Many men over fifty years old undergo this blood test to screen for prostate cancer. A normal level of prostate-specific antigen in the blood of a healthy individual is four nanograms per milliliter. An individual who has levels higher than four nanograms per milliliter may be referred to undergo a prostate biopsy for further diagnostic purposes.