New test accurately detects aggressive prostate cancer
April 7th, 2011 - 6:14 pm ICT by ANIWashington, Apr 7 (ANI): A new PSA test to screen for prostate cancer more accurately identified men with prostate cancer — particularly the aggressive form of the disease — and substantially reduced false positives compared to the two currently available commercial PSA tests, according to a research from Northwestern Medicine.
PSA stands for prostate-specific antigen, a substance whose elevated levels can indicate prostate cancer but can also be caused by prostate inflammation or enlargement or other conditions. Its lack of specificity can result in unnecessary biopsies.
“This new test is more specific and accurate than the currently available blood tests for early prostate cancer detection,” said lead investigator William Catalona, director of the clinical prostate cancer program at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University. “This will focus on the detection of more life-threatening prostate cancers and reduce unnecessary biopsies in men 50 years of age and older.”
The results of the study showed the new screening test, a simple blood test called the Pro-PSA test, is particularly useful for patients with a normal prostate exam whose PSA is 2 to 10, a range considered the diagnostic gray zone because most men with higher levels have prostate cancer and most men with lower levels do not.
The Pro-PSA test measures a more specific PSA subform called (-2) Pro-PSA. The test becomes even more accurate when its results are analyzed with a mathematical formula that provides an overall Prostate Health Index. (The formula divides the Pro-PSA number by the free-PSA. Then the quotient of the two is multiplied by the square root of the total PSA. )
“The logic behind the formula is that the higher the Pro-PSA and the total PSA and the lower the free-PSA, the more likely the patient has aggressive prostate cancer,” Catalona said.
The new Pro-PSA test was recently approved for commercial use in Europe.
The study will be published in the Journal of Urology, including Northwestern. (ANI)
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