The effect of digital rectal examination on prostate-specific antigen levels
Article Abstract:
Digital rectal examination (DRE) may not increase blood levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), an enzyme produced in the prostate gland. Men with diseases of the prostate gland and prostate cancer often have higher blood levels of PSA and measurement of PSA levels is considered one way to screen for prostate disease. Of 2,754 healthy men 40 years-of-age and older who underwent DRE for prostate cancer screening, 2,427 had PSA levels from 0.1 to 4.0 micrograms per liter (microg/L), 240 had PSA levels from 4.1 to 10.0 microg/L, 51 had PSA levels from 10.1 to to 20.0 microg/L, and 36 had PSA levels higher than 200 microg/L. Men with a PSA level between 0.1 and 4.0 microg/L and between 4.1 and 10.0 microg/L did not have higher blood levels of PSA after undergoing a DRE. Individuals with a PSA level between 10.1 and 20.0 microg/L had higher blood levels of PSA after a DRE, but the increase in PSA level seen in these men was not significant. Men with a PSA level above 20.0 microg/L had a significantly higher blood level of PSA.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1992
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Disease-specific survival following routine prostate cancer screening by digital rectal examination
Article Abstract:
An annual digital rectal examination for prostate cancer may not be sensitive enough or frequent enough to detect the disease in its early stages when it can be successfully treated. Screening of over 4,136 men at two medical centers detected 56 who had prostate cancer. Thirty-eight cases were detected at the first screening (group 1) and 18 were detected at a subsequent screening (group 2). Men with localized disease were treated with radiation therapy or surgery. Those with more advanced disease were treated with hormones. After an average follow-up of six years, nearly half the men experienced cancer progression or metastasis or died. One-third of the men in group 2 had died, compared to only 8% of those in group 1. Men in group 2 had been diagnosed with prostate cancer one year after a normal exam. These tumors may develop more rapidly, reducing the chances of successful treatment.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1993
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Results of radical prostatectomy in men with clinically localized prostate cancer: multi-institutional pooled analysis
Article Abstract:
Surgery to remove the prostate gland appears to be very successful in treating prostate cancer. Researchers reviewed the cases of 2,758 men with prostate cancer who were treated surgically at 8 hospitals in the US and Europe. Overall survival rates at 10 years were 94% in men with well-differentiated tumors, 80% in men with moderately differentiated tumors and 77% in men with poorly differentiated tumors. Metastasis-free 10-year survival rates were 87% in the first group, 68% in the second, and 52% in the third.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1996
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