How to diagnose early prostate cancer

Cancer is relatively hidden in its early stages, and the same is true for prostate cancer. The early symptoms are very unobvious, and with the accelerated pace of life, many people will misunderstand that these are just minor symptoms caused by increased physical burden. Therefore, as long as you feel unwell, you should seek medical attention in time to protect your body from cancer and other diseases.

1. Digital rectal examination

Rectal examination is the main method for diagnosing early prostate cancer. Since the prostate is right in front of the rectum, the size and texture of the prostate can be felt through rectal examination. The normal prostate gland is about 4 cm by 3 cm in size, soft in texture, smooth on the surface without nodules, and symmetrical on both sides. When a patient has prostate hyperplasia, the doctor can find changes in his prostate gland through rectal examination (the volume of the prostate will increase, but the texture will not be very hard). If a patient has prostate cancer, the doctor can feel the protruding tumor nodules on the surface of the prostate through rectal examination (if the tumor is large, the texture of the entire prostate will become very hard, like a stone).

2. Transrectal Ultrasound Examination

Through transrectal ultrasound, doctors can find out whether there are nodules in the patient's prostate. When nodules appear in the prostate, but the nodules are small or grow inside the gland, they are often not felt through rectal examination. However, through transrectal ultrasound, such abnormal nodules can be found, so that prostate cancer can be discovered early. In addition, through transrectal ultrasound, doctors can also determine the size of the patient's tumor and whether the tumor has invaded the capsule of the prostate, which is very helpful for the treatment of prostate cancer.

3. Serum prostate-specific antigen determination

Prostate-specific antigen is currently the most sensitive marker for prostate cancer. Although prostate-specific antigen can also be detected in the blood of normal people, when serum prostate-specific antigen rises to a certain value, it indicates that cancer cells exist in the patient's prostate. A study found that among 473 patients who were eventually diagnosed with prostate cancer after serum prostate-specific antigen testing, 40% of the patients were not found through rectal digital examination. At present, due to the widespread clinical application of serum prostate-specific antigen testing, the diagnosis time of prostate cancer patients has been advanced by an average of 5 to 8 years, which provides more time and opportunities to save the lives of patients with the disease.

As long as these methods are used for diagnosis, there is a 95% chance that prostate cancer will not be discovered. All we need to do is not conceal any discomfort. We may still be troubled by embarrassing questions, but only by telling our own situation without reservation can we diagnose the disease in time.