prostate question

[SteveKy]

I am a 65 year old man.  Every year at my annual checkup the doctor performs a DRE to check my prostate.   This year he did not, he said since my psa is so low for my  age  a DRE is not needed.  My psa is 2.2 and has always been in that range since my first psa test about 12 years ago.  Is the doctor correct or should a DRE be performed every year no matter what the psa is?   Thanks for your help

[hinx]

I am certaintly not as qualified to answer your question as Dr. Kaul.I have a friend that had prostate cancer and his psa was below 1.0.The doctor did a dre and felt an uneven area on his prostate.He had a biopsy based on the dre and the result was cancer.I am sure this is very unusal with a psa that low but guess what he was lucky he detected it.

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hi there!

DRE is a very basic examination and may not be required with normal PSA levels; which is more sensitive than a DRE.
Hope this information is helpful.

Take care!