Screening programs are the main way to prevent deadly cancers. Only timely screening can warn a person about a possible problem in the future and suggest how to avoid it. Unfortunately, despite the recommendations of the World Health Organization, in Ukraine such programs are not provided at the state level.
Men’s prostate cancer is known to be one of the most common malignant neoplasms. And its mortality rate is high. This is because a man may not feel the symptoms of the disease for a long time. Doctors report that there are cases when the symptoms of prostate cancer appeared 10-15 years or more after the onset of the disease. That is, all this time the disease progressed and was not treated. Saving such a patient is difficult, and sometimes even impossible!
For many years, the PSA blood test has been the most common way to diagnose prostate cancer early. Although even doctors admit that this is a rather inaccurate study. But the results of the work of specialists from University College London give men a chance to detect prostate cancer at a very early stage! His results are published in BMJ Oncology.
As a diagnostic tool, doctors decided to use MRI. To do this, men aged 50 to 75 years were offered to undergo an MRI scan and PSA testing for prostate cancer. 303 people underwent such procedures. And the comparison of the data obtained gave an amazing result!
The MRI showed a possible cancer in 48 men. The PSA study found 16 people at risk of cancer. However, in a thorough standard examination of these men, prostate cancer was diagnosed in 29 people. The other three were found to have clinically unimportant cancer, that is, a low probability of progression to clinical levels. And interestingly, two out of three men with positive MRI and more than half of men with clinically significant disease had normal PSA! I mean, if it wasn’t for the MRI, men would know about a dangerous disease at a much later stage!
The researchers conclude that MRI is a more reliable method for the early detection of prostate cancer and can serve as a primary screening tool.
And, of course, every man must know the symptoms of this dangerous disease and respond to them in time.
