Alarming prostate cancer rise in India, ICMR recommends regular digital rectal examination after 50

Witnessing the alarming increase in the prostate cancer cases in the country, experts from Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) have advised regular Digital Rectal Examination (DRE) to people who are 50 years or above.

Dr Jagdeesh Kulkarni, Prof. of Uro oncology, Asian Cancer Institute, said, "People above the age of 60 are at an increased risk of suffering from prostate cancer. One of the best ways for early detection of prostate cancer is DRE and the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test. Those people who have a family history of prostate cancer, irrespective of the symptoms should undergo regular check-ups including DRE and PSA, after the age of 45."

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Cancer of the prostate (PCa) is now recognized as one of the most important medical problems facing the male population. Prostate cancer is the 2nd most common cause of cancer death in men. Affects 4% of men in undeveloped countries & 15% of men in developed countries.

According to the recent data by ICMR, in India, the incidence rate of prostate cancer is reported as 9-10/100000 population which is higher when it comes to countries like Asia and Africa, but lower compared to the USA and Europe. Surely, these figures are alarming! Hence, the expert suggests going for complete physical examination including DRE in order to detect prostate cancer at an early stage.

Prostate cancer affects the prostate gland which is situated distal to the bladder neck. It is commonly seen in men above the age of 60. Typically, the symptoms are a frequent urge to urinate, painful urination, repeated urinary tract infections (UTI) and occasionally blood in the urine. Surgical treatment includes open surgery (open radical prostatectomy) that is the surgical removal of the prostate gland or minimal invasive surgery (MIS)- robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RALP). The additional benefits of the later are precision surgery, less blood loss and reduced pain with a short hospital stay, and early return to work.

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"Furthermore, it is recommended to embrace a healthy lifestyle, cessation of smoking, well-balanced diet, and regular physical exercises would go a long way in keeping prostate cancer at bay," concluded Dr Kulkarni.