Prostate Cancer Diagnosis Information

The following tests and procedures may be used:

• Digital Rectal Exam (and PSA+Prostate Biopsy in detecting Prostate Cancer) An exam of the rectum. This is the picture we laugh about in movies, when a doctor or nurse inserts a lubricated, gloved finger into the rectum. What they're really doing is feel the prostate through the rectal wall for lumps or abnormal areas (warm, soft, swollen, or tender).
• Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test: Presence of PSA in the blood is normal. But if the levels are (much) about the limit considered as Normal, a test is performed -the PSA Test- which measures the level of PSA in the blood. PSA levels may also be high in men who have an infection or inflammation of the prostate or BPH (an enlarged, but benign prostate).
• Transrectal ultrasound: A mostly noninvasive procedure which results in a sonogram: the picture of the prostate as it results from sound waves that bounce back. The principle is more or less the same one as in the case of pregnant woman ultrasound. High-energy sound waves (ultrasound) sent by the probe are reflected off internal tissues or organs and make
  echoes. These waves are emitted by a probe that is about the size of a finger, which is inserted into the rectum and directed towards the prostate. Transrectal ultrasound may be used during a biopsy procedure, for guidance of the biopsy needle.
• Prostate Biopsy: The removal of living cells or tissues so they can be examined under a microscope by a pathologist. The pathologist upon examination will check for cancer cells and determine what is known as the Gleason score. The Gleason score ranges from 2..10 and is an indication of the stage a tumor has reached. The more advanced it is (higher the Gleason score), the more there's a chance for it to spread.