All men should get a baseline PSA test every five years starting at age 40, and an annual PSA test along with a digital rectal exam (DRE) beginning at age 50, according to Rebecca von Goetz, executive vice-president of Prostate Cancer Canada.
The tests should begin earlier if there’s a family history of prostate cancer (a father, brother or son was diagnosed) or if the man is of African or Caribbean descent, she says.
If cancer cells are confirmed, the next step is to talk to your doctor about whether to get treated or to take a watchful waiting approach, which involves careful monitoring and treating symptoms when they occur.
“It’s very much a collaborative discussion between doctors and patients on how they should manage it if there is some indication that there is a prostate cancer,” says van Goetz.
