Newswise — September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month and Dr. Brian Miles, a urologist with The Methodist Hospital in Houston, says it’s important for men to be screened and determine fact from fiction. Miles answers some common questions here:
Q: Does frequent urination or urinating at night mean I have prostate cancer?
A: These are most likely not signs of prostate cancer. These symptoms are more consistent with benign growth of the prostate, which happens to nearly all men as they age. Because the prostate surrounds the opening of the bladder it tends to narrow the opening making it more difficult to urinate, thus more frequent trips to the restroom. Do not hit the panic button if you start to urinate frequently or get up several times during the night. You should be screened for prostate cancer, but it’s not likely that prostate cancer is the cause of these symptoms.
Q: If I have an enlarged prostate should I be worried about prostate cancer?
A: The answer is no because the size of the prostate has nothing to do with cancer. The part of the prostate that is growing is usually not where the cancer starts. The tissue that starts growing, between age 35 and 40 (the transition zone), is pushing the prostate tissue men are born with to the back of the prostate (that is toward the rectum) where they can feel it. This is where prostate cancer usually begins.
Q: Do men need to take both the protein specific antigen (PSA) test and the digital rectal exam (DRE)?
A: Yes. It gives physicians a better picture of whether cancer is present or not. However, some men are not comfortable with the DRE, so, in that case, they should undergo a PSA test because 80 percent of cancers are detected through this test alone, while only 20 percent are detected with a digital rectal exam alone. But both are preferred because you can have a normal PSA reading and still have cancer. The PSA test is primarily a trigger for physicians to look a little harder. It’s not a perfect test, but a good one.
Q: When should men begin screening for prostate cancer?
A: If there is a family history or if you are African-American, you should begin screening between the ages of 40 and 45. African-American men still have the highest incidence of prostate cancer and the highest death rate in the world, so we like to test them earlier. All other men can begin testing at age 50 and should do so every year. It’s also important to note that there is no age that is appropriate for a man to stop testing. If you find you have cancer, you don’t have to treat it, but you will never know you have it, if you are not tested for it. With men living longer, no age is “appropriate” is stop. It’s not how old you are that matters, as much as how healthy you are.
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