It can be checked by running a PSA test ......It can be checked anytime your doctor draws blood , as it's done in a blood test .......Your doctor should be able to tell you whats going on when he gets the results back ...... Just like checking your sugar level , and cholestaral level, and other levels, they can also check your PSA level ......As Skippers said , 80% of men who live to be 80 have Prostate Cancer to some degree ....At this age , the doctors say that something else will kill you before Prostate Cancer does ......Somehow , it grows fast in younger men .....This is why it's so important to have ti checked at your annual physical ......You DO get an annual physical don't you ? .......VERY IMPORTANT especially from the age of 40 plus .....Too many bad things can happen to us as we grow older !!.....Jim