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THE BIGGEST DANGER IS LETTING FEAR GET IN THE WAY

 

P S A - Prostate Cancer - Canada’s Position on the PSA Test

 

Age: 40 - At age 40, it is imperative to establish a baseline PSA score. While the threat of prostate cancer is minimal at this age, it also precedes the onset of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), the natural enlargement of the prostate that commonly occurs with age.The onset of BPH often results in rising PSA over time, and can be confused with the onset of prostate cancer. Unless your resulting baseline PSA score is of concern to your doctor,the PSA need only be repeated every 5 years until age 50.

 

Age: 50 - At age 50, all men should begin annual or semi-annual PSA testing if they have not yet done so. Results that show minimal increase in PSA against your baseline score (at the discretion of your physician) require no further action until your next annual test. Those with significant increases should prompt a consultation with your doctor about follow up PSA tests and possibly biopsy to test for cancer. Despite some controversy, the PSA test is necessary. The usefulness of the PSA test has been debated in medical and political circles for some
time; however, when deciding whether or not to take the test, all men should consider the pros and cons, and keep in mind, that early diagnosis is the key.Prostate Cancer Canada and many doctors would agree that the PSA test is crucial in detecting prostate cancer. Yet, some medical professionals believe that, for several reasons, the PSA test is not always necessary.

 

Occasionally, PSA tests find prostate cancer which may never become life threatening. Performing a biopsy in this case and treating their cancers may actually cause more harm than good, particularly for older men who have slow growing tumors which may never affect their health and never need treatment. The PSA test can be misleading as high PSA levels so not necessarily mean cancer is present, and low PSA levels does not always mean cancer is not present.

 

While these reasons can be worrying, men should be made aware that over 90% of prostate cancer cases are curable if detected and treated in their earliest stages, and although the test may not be fool proof, it is the best, and only, early detection tool men have at present. 

 

Since introducing the PSA test, North America has seen a 25% decline in prostate
cancer-related deaths.It is likely that widespread testing has contributed to this trend.