Science is making new discoveries every day and with these new discoveries come hopes and aspirations of a better fight against cancers of all types, including prostate cancer, as well as hopes of the best detection for prostate cancer. At the moment, specialists have a series of tests at their disposal, which they use to be sure of the condition they are dealing with and the risks and threats the patient is facing.



Some of these tests are standard, and should be performed regularly, especially by men aged over 50. The test I am speaking here is called a rectal digital examination and it is performed by a doctor or a nurse. In this procedure, the doctor, or nurse, inserts a lubricated finger into the patient’s anal cavity and feels the rectum and prostate to check for any abnormalities. Signs of trouble here would include a prostate that is increased in size, a prostate that is too small, or any other irregularities that may exist on the surface or in the density of the prostate.



Another test meant to detect or show indications of prostate cancer is a blood test. Here, the doctor draws some blood from the patient and analyzes the levels of prostatic specific antigens in the patient’s blood. The prostatic specific antigen is present in the cytoplasm of the prostatic ductal epithelial cells, in the secretions of the ductal lamin (prostatic seminal fluid), urine, serum.

Prostatic specific antigen is mainly responsible for the dissolution of the gel formed during ejaculation, through the proteolysis of major proteins in the sperm. However, high levels of prostatic specific antigen in the blood might also be the temporary effect of recent ejaculation. Thus, the level of prostatic specific antigens in the blood is analyzed several days after the digital rectal examination, and in the meantime the patient is asked by the doctor not to have sexual activity, in order to reduce to a minimum the number of reasons for which the prostatic specific antigen levels might be high in the blood.

However, when there are sufficient red flags raised by the digital rectal examination and prostatic specific antigen analysis, the best detection for prostate cancer is obtained through a biopsy. Biopsy is the procedure through which the specialist or doctor in charge with the case collects some tissue from the prostate in order to analyze it later under a microscope. This procedure allows the direct observation of any abnormal cells or any unusual development in the tissue.



What this procedure seeks is neoplastic cells, namely cells that have entered neoplasia. A cell becomes potentially cancerous, or develops malign potential, when it starts a chaotic process of division caused by flawed genetic instructions transmitted by the genes. In this process, the cell starts dividing uncontrollably and starts forming a malign mass of cells, called a tumor. The formed cells, in their turn start a similar process of division. This is cancer, and these are the types of cells the specialist is looking for after collecting the tissue sample from the patient. Other prostate cancer detection procedures include image testing, namely x-rays and ecography.