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The Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test is a simple blood test that is commonly performed to screen for the presence of a swollen prostate and of prostate cancer. While the test cannot in itself be used for diagnosis it is an excellent indicator and, alongside other screening tests, PSA testing can suggest the need for additional investigation.
PSA testing is normally recommended for men in high risk groups (like those with a family history of the condition) once they reach the age of about 40 to 45 and for men in general once they reach the age of 50.
A single PSA test in isolation will provide a snapshot of of the level of prostate specific antigen in the blood and can show a problem straight away if you record especially high psa numbers. In the majority of cases however, and where a prostate problem is in its early stages of development, a single PSA test result will prove to be inconclusive and another test will normally be recommended in a few weeks time. In fact, if possible PSA testing should be carried out regularly two or three times a year so PSA levels can be plotted over time.
Provided that you register a normal PSA score all is fine, but when your PSA scores start to increase they need to be monitored closely. The speed with which PSA scores rise is normally referred to as the 'PSA velocity' and providing the increase is gradual and the velocity slow then it is again frequently sufficient merely to monitor the situation as a variety of things can influence PSA levels and evidently increasing levels will frequently be seen to fall back to normal over time.
However, if PSA test levels start to increase rapidly and the velocity is high then further investigation is certainly necessary.
This pattern of PSA testing and monitoring has been undertaken for some time but, although the test has always been considered to be a good indicator of the requirement for additional investigation, it was not until quite recently that we have been able to link specific PSA velocity readings to prostate cancer in a manner that can foretell how aggressive prostate cancer is.
In a recent study data pertaining to 950 men with prostate cancer who had undergone either radiation treatment or surgery between 1988 and 2004 at four hospitals was carefully scutinized.
In every case the patients had been diagnosed as suffering from aggressive prostate cancer on the basis of a single very high PSA score, a noticeable rise in PSA velocity in the year before diagnosis, an advanced stage tumor, the results of a biopsy showing signs of an aggressive cancer at cellular level or a combination of two or more of these indicators.
The study also looked in detail at the outcomes for all of the patients and discovered that a rapidly increasing PSA score that jumped by 2 points or more in a year was the best indicator or an aggressive cancer.
Until now we have been able to associate increasing PSA test levels with the possible presence of prostate cancer but have had to guess to a fair degree about whether such a cancer is likely to be aggressive and require equally aggressive treatment.
Now however we are able to say with a fair degree of certainty that if a PSA score rises by more than 2 points in a twelve month period then prostate cancer is likely to be aggressive and needs to be treated swiftly and vigorously.
ProstateProblemCenter.com provides information on free & total PSA and on high PSA numbers
The PSA blood test has been around for many years now but it was only recently that we found that its results can point to the presence of an aggressive prostate cancer.
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