Is the digital rectal exam any good as a prostate cancer screening test?

Kirby, Mike, Merriel, Sam, Olajide, Oluwabunmi, Norman, Alexander, Vasdev, Nikhil, Hanchanale, Vishwanath, Cain, Michelle, Wilkinson, Malcom, Stephens, Harley, Victor, Debbie, Kinnaird, William, Tree, Alison, Challapalli, Amarnath and Rylance, Amy (2024) Is the digital rectal exam any good as a prostate cancer screening test? British Journal of General Practice, 74: 740. pp. 137-139. ISSN 0960-1643

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There is no shortage of references in popular culture to the prostate examination, with many a laugh built on the punchline of the finger up the bum. Interestingly, while cervical, breast, or bowel screening share barriers to uptake around the intimacy of the examination, ‘ick-factor’, or cultural taboos, they have never become comedy tropes — reflecting the uniquely emasculating perception of the rectal examination.

Item Type	Article
Identification Number	10.3399/bjgp24X736677
Additional information	© The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Date Deposited	15 May 2025 15:26
Last Modified	01 Feb 2026 02:35