Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men; however, it often doesn’t have any symptoms in its early stages. We’re looking at the reasons why you should get tested for prostate cancer in our third blog for prostate cancer awareness month as well as the benefits of cancer screening.
Why should you get tested?
You should consider getting tested if you’re at higher risk of getting prostate cancer. This includes anyone over the age of 50, men of Black African or African-Caribbean descent, and men with a close family history of prostate cancer (father, brother, son).
If you are not in a high-risk group but you are worried about prostate cancer, you might still want to get tested. Check4Cancer’s PSACheck is a private at-home test that could help to provide peace of mind, and it is available to men over the age of 40.
What are the benefits of cancer screening?
When diagnosed at its earliest stage, 100% of people with prostate cancer will survive their disease for five years or more, compared with around 1 in 2 (49%) people when the disease is diagnosed at the latest stage.¹
Cancer screening allows you to check for the disease when you do not have symptoms and may detect the cancer at an early stage, improving the chances of curing the disease. This is especially important for diseases like prostate cancer which may not display any symptoms in the early stages.
There is not currently a national screening programme for prostate cancer in the UK due to the risk of over-diagnosis and possible over-treatment of ‘harmless’ prostate cancers that wouldn’t cause any problems. But that shouldn’t stop those who are at higher risk or worried about prostate cancer getting tested.
The PSA test requires careful interpretation as a raised PSA level does not always mean that you have prostate cancer. For this reason, Check4Cancer offers PSACheck, a private prostate cancer screening test which includes an at-home finger-prick blood test for PSA as well as a personalised prostate cancer screening programme. Our team of specialists will analyse your PSA test results and risk factors to determine what the best next steps are for you.
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