Are You a Male With Unknown Family Medical History? Test for Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer is one of the leading types of cancer for men. Men should not wait until they have symptoms before they get screened and tested for prostate cancer because, by then, it may be too late for treatments to be effective.
Fortunately, early screening for prostate cancer can be done at health care clinics through blood tests. The age at which to start screening for prostate cancer depends on family history. But what if you don't know your family's medical history? Here's what to do.
1. Genetic Testing
For people who have been adopted or have had no communication with one or both of their parents, finding out their family's medical history is impossible. When it comes to prostate cancer and other cancers, genetic testing can help you determine whether or not you have a genetic mutation that is linked to prostate cancer. For this genetic test, all you need to do is to either give a blood sample or a saliva sample.
2. Early Screening
Use the information from the genetic testing as a starting point as to when you should start getting regular early screening for prostate cancer, which involves a blood test to measure how much prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is in your blood. This is called a PSA test.
If your PSA is normal, you'll reschedule for another screening in a time frame based on your genetic test results since he or she will be unable to schedule subsequent screenings based on your family history. If the number of PSA in your blood is abnormal for your age, you may need to ultimately have a biopsy done.
3. Additional Testing
If your PSA is high at any point, your doctor will recommend additional tests and imaging to determine whether or not a biopsy of your prostate will be necessary. These tests will look for conditions that can increase your PSA without being attributed to prostate cancer, such as an infection in the prostate, an enlarged prostate, and certain medications and medical procedures.
If a potential cause for the increased PSA can be found, your doctor may do an additional PSA test after you've completed treatment for the ailment that caused the high PSA count, especially if you have a genetic mutation that puts you at high risk of prostate cancer.
If you are a male and you don't know your family's medical history regarding cancers, consider having genetic testing and screening for prostate cancer before symptoms develop.
