Diagnosis of Prostate Cancer

Your doctor will ask questions about your medical history and perform a digital rectal exam to find the cause of the prostate problems. In this exam, the doctor feels the prostate through the rectal wall. Hard or lumpy areas may mean cancer is present.

Your doctor may suggest a blood test to check your prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level. PSA levels can be high not only in men who have prostate cancer, but in men with enlarged prostate glands or infections of the prostate. PSA tests may be very useful for early cancer diagnosis. However, PSA tests alone do not always reveal whether cancer is present.

Neither of these screening tests for prostate cancer is perfect. Screening tests check for diseases in someone who shows no symptoms. Most men with mildly elevated PSA do not have prostate cancer, and many men with prostate cancer have normal levels of PSA. In addition, the digital rectal exam can miss many prostate cancers.

For more information on diagnosis, consult the section on Screening & Testing.