You may have heard about these higher risks from a news story,
or from friends or family. You may also have heard about
prostate cancer screening and wondered if you should be
screened. Cancer screening tests check for the disease before a
person has symptoms. The goal of cancer screening is to decrease
the risk of dying of the target cancer by picking it up at a
sufficiently early stage. As you may have heard or read, there
is a controversy about whether the benefits of prostate cancer
screening outweigh the harms. Some doctors screen some men for
prostate cancer with the PSA blood test and with a digital
rectal exam. The PSA test measures the level in the blood of a
substance called PSA that is produced by the prostate gland. Men
who have prostate cancer or other prostate conditions may have
an increase in their PSA level. The digital rectal exam is used
to feel the prostate for lumps or other abnormalities. In the
last few years, clinical trials have shown conflicting results
regarding whether regular pros