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There are only a handful of factors that could put you at risk of developing prostate cancer: |
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Age. 40 or over for men with a family history of prostate cancer and African Americans, 50 and above for other men. Most prostate cancers are diagnosed in men over 65, but it is becoming more common in men 55-65. |
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Family history. Your risk of developing prostate cancer is doubled if your father, brother, or close male blood relative has or had the disease. |
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Race. African Americans have the highest rate of prostate cancer in the world, at least twice as high as white men. |
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Diet. Eating a diet that’s low in fiber and high in fat and red meat, has been shown to increase prostate cancer risk. |
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If you don't have any symptoms, prostate cancer is often discovered during a regularly scheduled checkup with a DRE and/or a blood test for PSA (prostate specific antigen), which is often an indicator of prostate-related problems. An abnormal test may mean that you need more testing.
These include: |
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Urinalysis. Often used to rule out BPH or prostatits. |
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Imaging. Ultrasound uses sound waves to produce an image of the prostate. MRI and CT scans use computers to produce images. Also, bone scanning can look for prostate cancer that might be spread to the skeletal system. |
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Biopsy. Taking a number of small pieces of prostate tissue following local anesthesia and examining them under a microscope. This is performed using trans-rectal ultrasound. |
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Lymph node biopsy. Examination of small samples from the lymph nodes can determine whether the prostate cancer has spread to other parts of the body. |
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