Only men have a prostate gland. The prostate is usually the size and shape of a walnut and grows bigger as you get older. It sits underneath the bladder and surrounds the urethra – the tube men urinate (pee) and ejaculate through.
Prostate cancer can affect any man; and is the most common cancer in men. Over 46,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year – that's 128 men every day. Every hour one man dies from prostate cancer – that's more than 11,000 men every year. 1 in 8 men will get prostate cancer in their lifetime
Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) is a protein which is released into the blood by the prostate gland. An enlarged gland is often associated with higher levels of PSA. PSA levels can also rise with age, with prostatitis (inflamed prostate) or even recent vigorous exercise and ejaculation.
Changes to look out for include:
needing to urinate more often than usual, including at night – for example if you often need to go again after two hours
difficulty starting to urinate
straining or taking a long time to finish urinating
a weak flow when you urinate
a feeling that you’re not emptying your bladder fully
needing to rush to the toilet – sometimes leaking before you get there
dribbling urine after you finish.
Less common symptoms include:
pain when urinating
pain when ejaculating
blood in your urine or semen*
problems getting or keeping an erection – this isn’t a common symptom of a prostate problem and is more often linked to other health conditions such as diabetes or heart problems.
Using a blood-spot test, taken simply at home, we measure the level of PSA (prostate specific antigen) in the blood. PSA can be elevated in cases of prostate cancer.
We provide easy-to-follow directions with the test kit allowing you to take your own sample conveniently on your own time. No lab visits, no appointments.
We ship the test directly to you! Simply complete, place your kit in the prepaid envelope, and send it on to our labs.
Get highly accurate results from some of the nation's most experienced labs.
Your results are independently validated by a qualified clinical healthcare professionalto ensure validity and reliability.
Our home self-test kit is a convenient starting point and we will give you indication of what you should do next.
The PSA test in isolation is not considered by itself to be a totally accurate tool in diagnosing prostate cancer, as levels can be raised due to benign prostate disorders. Elevated levels of PSA can lead to unnecessary biopsies and intervention which may decrease quality of life. However, a raised PSA level should always be investigated further.
