Prostate Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment

Other than skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in American men

Early prostate cancer generally has no symptoms. That’s why discussing with your doctor when to begin and how often to have a digital rectal exam and a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test is so important. By the time symptoms are noticeable, like blood in the urine, pain, problems passing urine or even loss of bladder or bowel control, the cancer is in an advanced stage making treatment outcomes less doubtful.

Evaluation and Diagnostic Testing

The most common way to check for prostate cancer is to have a digital rectal exam and a PSA blood test. Prostate-specific antigen is a protein produced by cells of the prostate gland. A higher level of PSA could mean that you have prostate cancer. If your PSA is high, or if your doctor finds anything during the rectal exam, he or she may do a biopsy to figure out the cause. A biopsy means your doctor takes a sample of tissue from your prostate gland and sends it to a lab for testing.

Men who are concerned about their risk should see a urologist who may elect to evaluate for prostate cancer using these tools:

• Digital Rectal Examination and PSA
  Prostate biopsy prompted by abnormal findings on a digital rectal exam (DRE), such as nodularity or induration of the prostate leads to a diagnosis of prostate cancer in only 15%-25% of cases. However, an abnormal DRE is associated with a five-fold increased risk of cancer present at time of screening.
  
  PSA is a serine protease produced by the prostatic epithelium and secreted in the seminal fluid in large quantities. The level of PSA is increased in the blood by inflammation of the prostate, urinary retention, prostatic infection, benign prostatic hyperplasia, prostate cancer, and prostatic manipulation.
  
  
• Mi-Prostate Score
  For men with an elevated PSA, the University of Michigan has begun offering a new urine test called Mi-Prostate Score to better assess the risk of cancer being present. The test developed from a discovery by U-M researchers of a genetic anomaly that occurs in about half of all prostate cancers, an instance of two genes changing places and fusing together.
  
  This gene fusion, T2:ERG, is believed to cause prostate cancer. Studies in prostate tissues show that the gene fusion almost always indicates cancer.
  
  The new urine test looks for the T2:ERG fusion as well as another marker, PCA3. This is combined with the PSA measure to produce a risk assessment for prostate cancer. The test also predicts risk for having an aggressive tumor, helping doctors and patients make decisions about whether to wait and monitor test levels or pursue immediate biopsy.
  
  
• Biopsy
  If your PSA or Mi-Prostate Score are high, or if your doctor finds something concerning during the rectal exam, he or she may do a biopsy to figure out the cause. A biopsy means your doctor takes a sample of tissue from your prostate gland and sends it to a lab for testing. Prostate biopsies are usually performed as an office procedure. The procedure is done without the need for anesthesia and carries a risk of significant infection of only 1 in 200. Some blood in the urine or in bowel movements can be common for two or three days following the biopsy. Blood in the semen may last for up to several weeks.

  If the biopsy is negative, these men are typically followed by checking PSA and rectal exam annually. Repeat biopsy may be needed if PSA levels rise at abnormal rates (less than 0.8 ng/dL/year) or if rectal exam shows new nodularity or induration.

  When the biopsy is positive and the cancer is staged, you and your interdisciplinary team will devise a personalized treatment plan that may include medical management and/or surgery.

  Men in whom high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (an abnormality thought to precede prostate cancer) is found on biopsy may undergo repeat biopsy, since about one-third will be found to have prostate cancer.

Treatment