PSA without the finger: the modern prostate pathway

For years, getting your prostate checked meant the gloved finger. It does not any more. The modern pathway starts with a blood test and only moves to anything more if it needs to.

That blood test is the PSA, prostate-specific antigen. It measures a protein the prostate makes, which tends to rise when something is going on. It is a signal, not a diagnosis, and a single number on its own says less than the trend over time, which is why a baseline in your forties or fifties is useful to come back to.

If the PSA is raised or rising, the next step is an MRI of the prostate, not a biopsy and not a rectal examination. The scan shows whether there is anything worth looking at and where it is. Only if the scan flags something does a biopsy follow, and then it is aimed at the spot the scan found rather than done blind. Many men never need that far.

The NHS route is open to you too. A man over 50 can ask his GP for a PSA test and a conversation about it, and from 2027 the NHS is offering regular PSA testing to men at high inherited risk, those with a BRCA2 gene change and a relevant family history.

With us, the PSA is a blood test you can arrange at home or nearby, a doctor reads it in the context of your age and history, and if an MRI is warranted we arrange it with our imaging partners. No rectal examination at any stage.

PSA is an imperfect test. It can be nudged up by things that are not cancer, and it can sit in the normal range when a cancer that matters is present. The MRI is the more accurate way to find the cancers that count, and research has picked up significant cancers in men whose PSA looked reassuring. The usual pathway still starts with PSA, so a normal result is reassuring, but it is not a complete all-clear, and if you want the more accurate look, an MRI is something we can discuss even when your PSA is normal.

You decide whether to test; we arrange it, explain what your number means, and tell you if it points anywhere.

Ready to start? Choose the check that fits your question and tell us a little about yourself. A doctor reviews it, arranges what you need, and explains what it means. Most of it is done online, with the clinic there if you would rather be seen.