Skip to main content
  • COVID-19
    • COVID-19 vaccines and cancer
      • FAQs
      • FAQs in-language
      • SerOzNET Study
    • COVID-19 information for people affected by cancer
      • Managing your cancer care in the context of COVID-19
      • Looking after your mental wellbeing
      • Canada
      • Ireland
      • UK
      • USA
    • COVID-19 information for children and young people with cancer
    • Cancer Won’t Wait
    • Cancer and COVID-19 - what it means for our Mob
      • COVID-19 vaccines: Information for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people affected by cancer
      • Act early for our Mob's health
    • Guidance for health professionals
      • Diagnosis
      • Treatment
      • Surgery
      • Medical oncology
      • Radiation oncology
      • Primary care
      • Telehealth
      • Clinical trials
      • Follow-up care
      • Supportive and Palliative care
      • Cancer care for cancer patients with COVID-19
      • COVID-19 vaccines and cancer
      • Recovery
    • Research articles
      • Review articles
      • Data articles
      • Recommendations articles
      • Shared experience articles
      • COVID-19 vaccines and cancer articles
    • Cancer care in the time of COVID-19: A conceptual framework
    • Optimal cancer care during the COVID-19 pandemic: the Principles
    • The impact of COVID-19 on cancer services
    • COVID-19 Recovery: Implications for cancer care
      • Expanded use of telehealth
      • Changes to prevention and early detection
      • Virtual multidisciplinary team meetings
      • Modifications to treatment schedules
      • Hypofractionated radiotherapy
      • Oncology hospital in the home
      • Responsive patient support
      • Innovative care and hospital infrastructure models
      • Shared follow-up and survivorship care
      • Supportive and palliative care
      • Cancer research and clinical trials
      • Collaboration in the oncology sector and data sharing
      • Acknowledgements
  • About us
    • Organisational structure
    • Accountability and reporting
      • Annual reports
    • Who we work with
      • Roles & functions
      • Advisory Council
      • Advisory groups
      • Consumer engagement
      • Government cancer control organisations
    • Information publication scheme
      • Information publication scheme plan
      • Freedom of information act
        • The FOI request process
      • FOI disclosure log
    • Reconciliation action plan
    • Employment opportunities
  • News and media
    • News
    • Subscribe to our eNewsletter
  • Contact us
Cancer Australia
Choose Language
  • العربية
  • 简体中文
  • 繁體中文
  • Ελληνικά
  • हिन्दी
  • Italiano
  • 한국어
  • Español
  • Tagalog
  • Tiếng Việt
  • العربية
  • 简体中文
  • 繁體中文
  • Ελληνικά
  • हिन्दी
  • Italiano
  • 한국어
  • Español
  • Tagalog
  • Tiếng Việt
  • العربية
  • 简体中文
  • 繁體中文
  • Ελληνικά
  • हिन्दी
  • Italiano
  • 한국어
  • Español
  • Tagalog
  • Tiếng Việt
  • Home
  • Cancer types
  • Impacted by Cancer
  • Awareness
  • Research
  • Resources
  • Clinicians hub
  • Key initiatives
  • Home
  • Cancer types
    • Bladder cancer
    • Bowel cancer
    • Brain cancer
    • Breast cancer
    • Breast cancer in men
    • Breast cancer in young women
    • Cervical cancer
    • Children’s cancer
    • Endometrial cancer
    • Fallopian cancer
    • Gestational trophoblastic disease
    • Gynaecological cancers
    • Head and neck cancer
    • Kidney cancer
    • Leukaemia
    • Liver cancer
    • Lung cancer
    • Lymphoma
    • Melanoma
    • Mesothelioma cancer
    • Myeloma
    • Neuroendocrine tumours
    • Oesophageal cancer
    • Ovarian cancer
    • Pancreatic cancer
    • Prostate cancer
    • Sarcoma
    • Stomach cancer
    • Testicular cancer
    • Thyroid cancer
    • Unknown primary cancer
    • Uterine sarcoma
    • Vaginal cancer
    • Vulvar cancer
  • Impacted by Cancer
    • What is cancer
    • Physical changes
    • Treatment
    • Keeping healthy
    • Emotions
    • Family and relationships
    • Living with cancer
    • Lynch Syndrome
  • Awareness
    • Your cancer risk
    • Screening
    • Interactive body map
  • Research
    • Cancer Research in Australia
    • Data and statistics
    • Australian Clinical Trials
    • Support for cancer clinical trials
    • Grants and funding
  • Resources
    • Cancer Australia Publications
    • Clinical Practice Guidelines
    • Position statements
    • Resources in other languages
    • Cancer Australia websites
    • Cancer risk online assessment tools
    • Other tools and resources
    • Podcasts
    • Cancer support organisations
    • Glossary
  • Clinicians hub
    • GP guides and resources
    • Guidelines by cancer type
    • Optimal Care pathways
    • Working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
    • Multidisciplinary care
    • Psychosocial care
    • Follow-up care
    • Family cancer clinics
    • Cancer Learning
    • Consumer engagement
  • Key initiatives
    • For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
    • Australian Cancer Plan
    • Australian Brain Cancer Mission
    • Lung Cancer Screening
    • National Pancreatic Cancer Roadmap
    • Campaigns & events
    • Jeannie Ferris Recognition Award

Prostate cancer

prostate-mm cancer-types/prostate-cancer/overview
    • Home
    • Types
    • Statistics
    • Risk factors
    • Symptoms
    • Diagnosis
    • Treatment
    • Finding support
    • Clinical trials
    • Health professionals
    • Awareness
    • Home
    • Types
    • Statistics
    • Risk factors
    • Symptoms
    • Diagnosis
    • Treatment
    • Finding support
    • Clinical trials
    • Health professionals
    • Awareness
  1. Home
  2. Diagnosis
Loading...

How is prostate cancer diagnosed?

  • Printer-friendly version
  • A|A

A number of tests may be performed to investigate symptoms of prostate cancer and confirm a diagnosis. Some of the more common tests include:

  • physical examination and medical history
  • digital rectal examination – where the doctor inserts a gloved finger into your rectum to feel the prostate through the rectal wall
  • blood test to check for prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a protein produced by the prostate. The level of PSA can be higher than normal in people with prostate cancer (but also in people with other prostate conditions that are not cancer)
  • transrectal ultrasound – where a probe is inserted into the rectum that uses sound waves to create a picture of the prostate inside the body
  • magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a type of medical scan
  • biopsy – where a small sample of tissue is removed to be examined under a microscope. The biopsy results include a Gleason score – a score from 2 to 10 used by the pathologist that indicates the likelihood of the tumour spreading outside the prostate (2 is least likely to spread, and 10 is most likely to spread).

Staging

If you are diagnosed with prostate cancer, you might have more tests to determine the stage of the disease and whether the cancer has spread to other parts of the body. Knowing the stage of the disease helps your medical team plan the best treatment for you.

Prostate cancer is staged using the following information:

  • size and extent of the tumour
  • whether the cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes
  • whether the cancer has spread to other organs or tissues in the body
  • PSA level at diagnosis
  • Gleason score from the prostate biopsy.

Stages of prostate cancer are:

  • Stage I: the tumour has not spread outside the prostate. The tumour is small and may or may not be able to be felt during a digital rectal exam or seen with medical imaging tests. If it can be seen in tests, the tumour is in half or less of the prostate and on 1 side only. The Gleason score is 6 or less and the PSA level is less than 10.
  • Stage IIA: the tumour has not spread outside the prostate. The Gleason score can be 6 or lower but the PSA level is between 10 and 20, or the Gleason score can be 7 and the PSA level is less than 20. The tumour may be in more than half of the prostate.
  • Stage IIB: the tumour has not spread outside the prostate. The tumour is small and may not be felt during a digital rectal exam or seen with medical imaging tests, but the Gleason score is 8 or higher or the PSA level is 20 or higher. If the tumour can be seen with medical imaging tests, it is in both sides of the prostate.
  • Stage III: the tumour has spread beyond the outer layer of the prostate and may have spread to the seminal vesicles, but not to nearby lymph nodes. The PSA level and Gleason score can be any numbers.
  • Stage IV: the cancer has spread to nearby tissues such as the seminal vesicles, rectum or bladder, to nearby lymph nodes, or to distant parts of the body such as the bones. The PSA level and Gleason score can be any numbers.

Tests to determine the stage of prostate cancer can include:

  • transrectal ultrasound
  • biopsy or removal of lymph nodes – where tissue from the lymph nodes is taken to be examined under a microscope
  • bone scan
  • CT, MRI or other scans.
  • Last Updated
  • References
  • Relevant Links
updated: 20 October 2020 - 3:32pm

National Cancer Institute (2014). Prostate cancer treatment (PDQ®) http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/prostate/Patient, patient version.

American Cancer Society (2015). Prostate cancer http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/ProstateCancer/DetailedGuide/index.

Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia
National Cancer Institute (US)
American Cancer Society, Prostate cancer: detailed guide

Related information

What is cancer?
What is cancer?

Cancer is a disease of the cells, which are the body’s basic building blocks.

Treatment and side effects
Treatment and side effects

The treatment that your doctors recommend will depend on the type of cancer you have, how advanced it is, and other personal factors.

Living with cancer
Living with cancer

A diagnosis of cancer marks the beginning of a journey full of emotional, psychological, physical and practical challenges.

Life after cancer
Life after cancer

While looking forward to finishing their cancer treatment and getting on with life, for some people, the end of treatment can also be a confusing or worrying time.

A-Z List of Cancer Types

Information on more than 70 types of cancer

  • Bladder cancer
  • Bowel cancer
  • Brain cancer
  • Breast cancer
  • Breast cancer in men
  • Breast cancer in young women
  • Cervical cancer
  • Children's Cancer
  • Endometrial cancer
  • Fallopian cancer
  • Gestational trophoblastic disease
  • Gynaecological cancers
  • Head and neck cancer
  • Kidney cancer
  • Leukaemia
  • Liver cancer
  • Lung cancer
  • Lymphoma
  • Melanoma of the skin
  • Mesothelioma cancer
  • Myeloma
  • Neuroendocrine tumours
  • Oesophageal cancer
  • Ovarian cancer
  • Pancreatic cancer
  • Prostate cancer
  • Sarcoma
  • Stomach cancer
  • Testicular cancer
  • Thyroid cancer
  • Unknown primary
  • Uterine sarcoma
  • Vaginal cancer
  • Vulval cancer

About Cancer Australia

Cancer Australia was established by the Australian Government in 2006 to benefit all Australians affected by cancer, and their families and carers. Cancer Australia aims to reduce the impact of cancer, address disparities and improve outcomes for people affected by cancer by leading and coordinating national, evidence-based interventions across the continuum of care.

If you would like an interpreter to help you understand any information on this website, please call TIS National on 131 450 and ask them to call Cancer Australia on 02 9357 9400. Our business hours are 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

Freecall 1800 624 973
+61 2 9357 9400

Locked Bag 3, Strawberry Hills
NSW 2012

Navigation

  • Cancer types
  • Impacted by Cancer
  • Awareness
  • Research
  • Resources
  • Clinicians hub
  • Key initiatives

Contact us

* Denotes mandatory fields
 

By submitting this form, you accept the Cancer Australia privacy policy.

  • Contact Us
  • Copyright
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy policy
  • Sitemap
Copyright © 2023 - Cancer Australia