Prostate cancer prevention continues to be the most important weapon

Early prostate cancer diagnosis opens up better chances of recovery

27.03.2012

Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers of the man. In the initial stage, however, a prostate carcinoma triggers hardly any symptoms, only at an advanced stage affected persons report complaints of urination, blood in the urine or problems with evacuation. Early diagnosis offers doctors and patients promising surgical and treatment options. Therefore, regular visits to the urologist should be mandatory for men to detect prostate cancer in good time. Besides palpation and ultrasound of the prostate, important parameters are the removal of tissue samples and the determination of a specific tumor marker in the blood.

„Prostate cancer increases the value of a particular protein, also known as prostate specific antigen - PSA for short“, explains Dr. Reinhold Schaefer, urologist and managing director of the medical network Uro-GmbH Nordrhein. The correct interpretation of the PSA value is, however, in the hands of an experienced urologist, as well as a healthy prostate under certain circumstances increasingly forms this substance. According to the latest scientific findings and clinical studies, the PSA test can reduce mortality from prostate cancer by more than 20 percent. „Unfortunately, the statutory health insurance still ignores this fact because they do not want to pay the test routinely“, noticed Dr. Shepherd.

Basically, however, only a thorough urological examination provides reliable conclusions about the state of health. Therefore, a qualified urine test as well as a transrectal ultrasound is part of the screening program for prostate cancer. The ultrasound examination of the intestine gives the urologist much better information about the size and shape of the prostate than a mere tactile examination, which reaches only one third of the organ. „What sounds unpleasant at first, does not even last 5 minutes, is completely painless and can save lives in many cases“, emphasizes Shepherd. (Pm)