Prostate Cancer : Tests

A rectal exam often reveals an enlarged prostate with a hard, irregular surface. A number of tests may be done to confirm the diagnosis of prostate cancer. PSA test may be high, although non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate can also increase ...

Prostate cancer is curable when detected early. Yet the early stages of prostate cancer are often asymptomatic, so the disease often goes undetected until the patient has a routine physical examination. Diagnosis of prostate cancer can be made usi...

Although prostate cancer may be very slow-growing, it can be quite aggressive, especially in younger men. When the disease is slow-growing, it may go undetected. Because it may take many years for the cancer to develop, many men with the disease a...

Although prostate cancer may be very slow-growing, it can be quite aggressive, especially in younger men. When the disease is slow-growing, it may often go undetected. Because it may take many years for the cancer to develop, many men with the dis...

Prostate cancer is curable when detected early. Yet the early stages of prostate cancer are often asymptomatic, so the disease often goes undetected until the patient has a routine physical examination . Diagnosis of prostate cancer can be made us...

Prostate cancer is curable when detected early. However, because the early stages of prostate cancer may not have any visible symptoms, it often goes undetected until the patient goes for a routine physical examination. Diagnosis of the disease is...

Although prostate cancer may be very slow-growing, it can be quite aggressive, especially in younger men. When the disease is slow-growing, it may go undetected. Because it may take many years for the cancer to develop, many men with the disease a...

During a physical examination, a health care provider studies a patient's body to determine the presence or absence of physical problems. A typical physical examination includes: Inspection (looking at the body; Palpation (feeling the body with hands; Auscultation (listening to sounds; Percussion (producing sounds.

A digital rectal exam is an examination of the lower rectum. The doctor uses a gloved, lubricated finger to check for abnormalities.

The digital rectal examination (DRE) is a routine part of the physical examination and includes manual examination of the rectum, anus and, in men, the prostate.

PSA stands for prostate-specific antigen. It is a protein found in prostate cells. It can be detected at a low level in the blood of all adult men. This article discusses the blood test to measure the amount of PSA in a man's blood.

Prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, is a protein produced by the prostate gland that may be found in elevated levels in the blood when a person develops certain diseases of the prostate, notably prostate cancer . PSA is specific , because it is present only in prostate tissue. It is not specific for prostate cancer , however, as it may also be elevated in men with benign enlargement of this organ. The PSA test has been called the "male PAP test."

Gene Therapy: Targeting the Cause of Lung Cancer to Treat ItThe American Cancer Society estimates that about 160,00 people die of lung cancer  each year. This is more than the deaths caused by the next three leading cancers—colon, breast, an...

PSA, an ingredient of semen, is made by the prostate. Some PSA naturally leaks from the prostate into the bloodstream. The PSA test measures the amount of PSA in the blood. As a man ages, more PSA leaks into the blood.

Prostate Cancer and PSA ScreeningIf you could find a screening test able to detect a potentially deadly cancer, it would be hailed as a lifesaver and widely recommended, wouldn’t it? Not necessarily.

Ingesting food has no impact on the outcome of PSA testing for prostate cancer.

Prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, is a blood test used by many doctors to screen for prostate cancer. If you've had your PSA level checked, you may have been told that your results were "normal" or "abnormal." However, some men would like to know more about what their PSA level means.

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is a 32-kilodalton (kD) serine kinase that functions to liquify the ejaculate. It is technically referred to as "human kallekrin 2." Several conditions such as prostatitis, benign prostatic hyperplasia, prostate cancer, and ejaculation (mild increase) can increase serum PSA levels. Although it has been detected in other tissue, such as the breast, salivary gland, and in other tumors, it is overwhelmingly more specific for the prostate and has more organ specificity than any other existing tumor marker. Serum PSA is measured in nanogram (ng) quantities and is very sensitive for detecting prostate cancer. After radical surgery, serum measurements should nadir to undetectable levels. The reappearance of measurable PSA is the earliest sign of therapeutic failure. While very low postoperative measurable levels may represent minimal residual benign glands, values of 0.4 ng/ml are almost always associated with disease recurrence. The first approved indication for serum PSA was for the monitoring of patients after radical prostatectomy. Levels between 4.0 and 10.0 ng/ml carry a 16 to 25 percent risk of detecting prostate cancer, while levels above 10.0 ng/ml are associated with a 60 percent risk of prostate cancer. Although PSA is considered to be the most effective tumor marker in human oncology, its role in screening strategies for prostate cancer has not been completely established. Since its tumor specificity is low, many patients will demonstrate negative findings on a transrectal needle biopsy prompted by an elevated PSA. Earlier concerns, however, that PSA detects clinically insignificant tumors have been dispelled by multiple surgical pathology studies. It has also been repeatedly demonstrated that serum PSA and a digital rectal examination (DRE) detect more prostate cancer than either modality alone, yet prospective randomized data demonstrating a decrease in the prostate cancer deaths due to screening strategies is unavailable. Several prospective trials are in progress, but are several years from maturity. Recent trends in tumor registry data demonstrate a 12 to 16 percent decrease in prostate cancer deaths over the past five years. Most experts agree that there is some role for PSA evaluation in patients, and efforts are underway to establish reasonable guidelines for the use of this marker. PSA evaluations should generally start at age fifty in most subjects but at age forty in African Americans and those patients with a family history of the disease. The appropriate upper age to abandon screening is problematic, yet recent data suggests that men over the age of sixty-five with an initial PSA value below one have a very small chance of ever developing prostate cancer. Several attempts have been made to improve the test characteristics of serum PSA. PSA density accounts for the amount of PSA produced proportional to the volume of the prostate gland. A large gland with benign hyperplasia may make more PSA than a smaller gland. A smaller gland with a higher PSA may be suggestive of prostate cancer. An optimal cutoff of 0.15 has been suggested. The volume of the prostate gland cannot be precisely determined with transrectal ultrasound, making practical implementation of this concept difficult. Age-adjusted PSA (lowering the normal value in patients younger than sixty and raising it in older patients) has been proposed to increase sensitivity in detection in younger patients. In the case of older patients this can lead to more cases of missing significant tumors, however. Some authors suggest lowering the value for young patients and keeping it at 4.0 ng/ml for older patients. PSA levels tend to increase in men over time. The rate of increase (velocity) may provide some indication of the development of benign or malignant disease. Investigators have noticed that an increase greater than 0.75 ng/year may suggest a significant cancer risk. While this holds up with retrospective evaluations of arch

Harvard Men's Health Watch marks ten years of publication with a retrospective look at ten important men's health topics from the past decade.

Prostate biopsy is a surgical procedure that involves removing a small piece of prostate tissue for microscopic examination.

If the results of your exam and tests lead your doctor to suspect prostate cancer, a core needle biopsy will be done. A thin needle is used to remove small samples of prostate tissue. These samples are checked for cancer.

Prostate biopsy is a surgical procedure to remove small samples of prostate tissue for microscopic examination. The prostate gland lies just below the urinary bladder and surrounds the urethra. The gland produces enzyme-rich secretions that contribute to the seminal fluid via ducts that enter the urethra.

Transrectal Ultrasound and BiopsyUltrasound is an imaging test. It uses sound waves to form pictures of your organs that appear on a screen.Transrectal ultrasounduses a special probe that is placed directly into the rectum.

Tests That Help Evaluate Prostate CancerYour doctor took a biopsy from your prostate to know that you have cancer.Your doctor may request more tests to learn more about your specific type of cancer and its specific location to help decide on the t...

Urinalysis is the physical, chemical, and microscopic examination of urine. It involves a number of tests to detect and measure various compounds that pass through the urine.

Urinalysis is a diagnostic physical, chemical, and microscopic examination of a urine sample (specimen). Specimens can be obtained by normal emptying of the bladder (voiding) or by a hospital procedure called catheterization.

The urine specimen collection is a procedure used to obtain a sample of urine from a patient for diagnostic tests.

A urinalysis is a group of manual and/or automated qualitative and semi-quantitative tests performed on a urine sample. A routine urinalysis usually includes the following tests: color, transparency, specific gravity, pH, protein, glucose, ketones, blood , bilirubin, nitrite, urobilinogen, and leukocyte esterase. Some laboratories include a microscopic examination of urinary sediment with all routine urinalysis tests. If not, it is customary to perform the microscopic exam, if transparency, glucose, protein, blood, nitrite, or leukocyte esterase is abnormal.

A urine dipstick is a colorimetric chemical assay that can be used to determine the pH, specific gravity, protein, glucose, ketone, bilirubin, urobilinogen, blood, leukocyte, and nitrite levels of an individual's urine. It consists of a reagent stick-pad, which is immersed in a fresh urine specimen and then withdrawn. After predetermined times the colors of the reagent pad are compared to standardized reference charts. The urine dipstick offers an inexpensive and fast method to perform screening urinalyses, which help in identifying the presence of various diseases or health problems. This test should be interpreted with caution, however, due to numerous limitations, including inaccurate results due to medications and collection techniques. Abnormal values need to be confirmed with more precise quantitative measurements. B IJAN S HEKARRIZ M ARSHALL L. S TOLLER ( SEE ALSO : Genitourinary Disease ; Urinalysis )

Urine typically contains epithelial cells shed from the urinary tract. Urine cytology evaluates this urinary sediment for the presence of cancerous cells from the lining of the urinary tract, and it is a convenient noninvasive technique for follow-up analysis of patients treated for urinary tract cancers. For this process, urine must be collected in a reliable fashion, and if urine samples are inadequate, the urinary tract can be assessed via instrumentation. In urine cytology, collected urine is examined microscopically. One limitation, however, is the inability to definitively identify low-grade cancer cells and urine cytology is used mostly to identify high-grade tumors. B IJAN S HEKARRIZ M ARSHALL L. S TOLLER ( SEE ALSO : Genitourinary Disease ; Urinalysis )

Urinalysis is an important test used in diagnosing diseases of the genitourinary tract. Urine is examined for pH and specific gravity by chemical and direct microscopic methods. The presence and concentration of various chemicals such as proteins, ketones, bilirubin, glucose, and nitrite are measured. Chemical metabolites also may be screened through urinalysis. In urinalysis, microscopic examination is performed to quantify the cellular urinary components, including red and white blood cells, fungi, and bacteria. The presence and concentration of cellular components, combined with the results of chemical analyses, give important clues for diagnosis of genitourinary diseases. B IJAN S HEKARRIZ M ARSHALL L. S TOLLER ( SEE ALSO : Genitourinary Disease ; Urine Cytology ; Urine Dipstick )

A urinalysis is a group of manual and/or automated qualitative and semi-quantitative tests performed on a urine sample. A routine urinalysis usually includes the following tests: color, transparency, specific gravity, pH, protein, glucose, ketones, blood, bilirubin, nitrite, urobilinogen, and leukocyte esterase. Some laboratories include a microscopic examination of urinary sediment with all routine urinalysis tests. If not, it is customary to perform the microscopic exam, if transparency, glucose, protein, blood, nitrite, or leukocyte esterase is abnormal.

A biopsy is the removal of a small piece of tissue for laboratory examination.

A biopsy describes the procedure that is used to obtain a very small piece of the target tissue. For some tissues, like the lining of the cheek, cells can be obtained just by scrapping the tissue surface. Other samples are collected using forceps that are positioned at the end of an optical device called an endoscope. The physician can view the tissue surface (such as the wall of the large intestine) through the endoscope and use the forceps to pluck tissue from the desired region of the surface. In other cases, the tissue sample needs to be collected as a "plug," using a large hypodermic needle. Examples of the latter include liver or kidney biopsy samples. Samples of muscles and nerves can also be obtained by cutting out a small piece of the target once an incision has been made. When a biopsy is obtained using a needle, the retrieval of a sample relies on the design of the needle and the energy of its insertion into the tissue. The needle used is a hollow tube with a sharp point capable of puncturing tissue. As the needle is driven deeper into a tissue following puncture, tissue will accumulate in the hollow tube. When the needle is withdrawn from the tissue, the plug of tissue remains in the needle tube and can be retrieved for analysis. Many biopsy samples are examined using a light microscope to look for abnormalities in the tissues cells. This examination can involve the staining of the sample to specifically detect target molecules. As well, samples can be used for various biochemical tests, and even to test for the presence and activity of particular genes. A biopsy can remove the entire target region (excisional biopsy) or can remove just a small portion of the target region (incisional biopsy). The latter can be done in three different ways, depending on the sample. A shave biopsy slices off surface tissue. Samples collected by piercing the tissue with a needle represent a punch biopsy. Finally, in fine needle aspiration, a needle is inserted and tissue is subsequently withdrawn into the needle using a syringe.

Detailed information on biopsy, including the most common types of biopsy such as endoscopic biopsy, bone marrow biopsy, excisional biopsy, incisional biopsy, fine needle aspiration biopsy, punch biopsy, shave biopsy, and skin biopsy

Biopsy is a diagnostic procedure in which a piece of tissue and/or cells are removed to be examined under a microscope by a pathologist.

Detailed information on several of the different divisions of anatomical pathology, including biopsy, surgical pathology, cytology, and autopsy

Image-Guided BiopsyAbiopsyis a small sample of tissue or fluid taken from the body. This sample can then be studied in a laboratory.

If You Are Having a BiopsyQuestions for the doctor:What type of biopsy will I have?Why do I need a biopsy?

Detailed information on biopsy and the biopsy report

A medical procedure used to diagnose a condition. Most biopsies involve taking a small piece of skin or muscle under a local anesthetic. When the cells to be analyzed are accessible by needle, the biopsy specimen may be removed with a hollow aspiration needle, which is used to suck out the sample of cells. Aspirations are typically performed with local anesthesia; in addition, ultrasound imagery or other scanning devices may aid in locating the cells of interest. In cases where the cells are not accessible by needle, a longer tube called an endoscope may be inserted into the body with forceps attached for acquiring the specimen. Biopsy analysis is used in diagnosing cancer and muscular dystrophy.