How to detect prostate cancer early?

  The most important problem that has plagued the health of older men is prostate disease, which includes the common prostate enlargement and the “insidious” prostate cancer. In Europe and the United States, prostate cancer has long occupied the first place in the incidence of malignant tumors in men and the second place in mortality. In China, the incidence of prostate cancer is also increasing with the increase of life expectancy and the popularity of medical checkups. It has gradually become a health killer for middle-aged and elderly men, so how should prostate cancer be detected early?  The most important preventive measure for prostate cancer is to rely on early detection. Early detection of prostate cancer can lead to radical surgery, while late detection of prostate cancer can only be treated with palliative care. However, unlike other tumors, prostate cancer cannot be seen or felt by the patient, and there are no obvious clinical symptoms in early stage prostate cancer.  So how can we detect prostate cancer at an early stage? The answer is to strengthen screening and screening, and if abnormalities are found, further examination and, if necessary, prostate puncture biopsy should be performed to clarify the diagnosis.  In terms of screening, there are three non-invasive tests that are known as the gold standard: First: blood PSA test Although there are many molecular markers for prostate cancer, the most widely used and effective one is PSA, which is the serum prostate-specific antigen with a normal range of less than 4ng/ml. Second: rectal examination: Specialists can detect prostate cancer through rectal examination. An experienced and trained doctor can make a preliminary estimate of whether there is a possibility of prostate cancer based on the sensation on the fingertips. This method is simple, easy to perform, and does not depend on equipment, and can be popular in areas with poor medical conditions.  Third: Transrectal ultrasound: Prostate cancer usually occurs in the peripheral zone of the prostate gland, which is close to the peritoneum of the prostate gland, and transrectal ultrasound (TRUS), because the probe is close to the rectum, can detect the presence of masses in this area more accurately, and can provide clearer ultrasound images of the overall structure of the prostate gland, the size, location, boundary, texture and blood supply of the cancer, and can detect whether the tumor invade the seminal vesicles.  In addition, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can also detect the presence or absence of a mass in the prostate as well as the size of the mass and whether the mass is located in the peripheral zone, but the corresponding cost is high and the results can only be used as a reference basis for clinicians.  In fact, there is only one gold standard for a clear diagnosis of early prostate cancer, and that is prostate puncture biopsy, except that it is an invasive test and there is a risk of hematuria, urinary tract infection and fever after the puncture, and there is also a possibility of missing the diagnosis with the previous random puncture. However, with the improvement of medical technology nowadays, we now use B-ultrasound guided fine needle multi-point puncture of the prostate, which can both adjust the accuracy of the puncture and reduce the complications after the puncture, etc. Therefore, this method is now recognized by scholars both at home and abroad as the most accurate and effective, and the only means to clarify early prostate cancer.