PSA Changes, Important for Early Detection of Prostate Cancer

As prostate cancer emerges as the most commonly occurring cancer among Korean men, the importance of early detection is being emphasized once again. JoongAng Ilbo’s health content reviewed the causes, diagnosis, and treatment methods of prostate cancer together with Professor Park Seongyeol of the Department of Urology at Hanyang University Hospital. It was explained that prostate cancer generally appears more often in older adults, and that aging and changes in eating habits are associated with an increased risk. In the early stages, there are hardly any symptoms, so it is often discovered incidentally during screenings, and there are also cases in which it is diagnosed late after being mistaken for another condition, such as lower back or pelvic pain. The test most emphasized in the article was the PSA (prostatespecific antigen) test. While it is important to see whether the PSA level exceeds a certain standard, it is even more important to look at the trend of how steadily the level rises each year. Depending on the need, MRI scans and biopsy can be performed together to improve diagnostic accuracy, and in the early stages, surgery and radiation therapy were introduced as the main treatment methods.