Psa Scores Offer A Very Good Indication Of Aggressive Prostate Cancer

By Author: Donald Saunders
Total Articles: 84
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The Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test is a simple blood test that is Often carried out to screen for the presence of an enlarged prostate and of prostate cancer. In spite of the fact that the test cannot in itself be used for diagnosis it is an excellent indicator and, along with other tests, PSA testing can point to the need for further investigation.

The PSA test is generally recommended for men in high risk groups (such as those with a family history of prostate cancer) from the age of around 40 to 45 and for all men after they reach the age of 50.

A single test will provide a snapshot of of the level of prostate specific antigen in the blood and might indicate a problem immediately if you record especially high psa numbers. In most cases however, and when a prostate problem may be in its early stages of development, an isolated test result will turn out to be inconclusive and another test will usually be recommended a few weeks later. Indeed, ideally testing ought to be carried out at regular intervals two or three times every year so that PSA levels may be seen over time.

As long as you record a ...
... normal PSA score all is fine, but when your PSA scores begin to increase they need to be monitored closely. The speed at which PSA scores increase is often called the 'PSA velocity' and providing the increase is steady and the velocity slow then it is again often enough simply to watch the situation as various things can influence PSA levels and evidently rising levels will often be seen to return to normal given time.

However, if PSA test readings start to rise rapidly and the velocity is high then further investigation is required.

This pattern of PSA testing and monitoring has been carried out for some time but, although the test has long been held as a good indicator of the requirement for further investigation, it was not until fairly recently that we have been able to link specific PSA velocity to prostate cancer in a fashion that can foretell how aggressive prostate cancer is.

In a study carried out recently data pertaining to 950 men who had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and undergone either surgery of radiation treatment at four hospitals between 1988 and 2004 was scutinized.

In all cases the patients had been diagnosed as suffering from aggressive prostate cancer on the basis of an isolated very high PSA score, a noticeable increase in PSA velocity in the year prior to diagnosis, the presence of an advanced stage tumor, a biopsy showing an aggressive cancer at cellular level or a combination of two or more of these signs.

This study also looked in detail at the outcomes for all 950 men and found that a rapidly rising PSA level that jumped by 2 or more points in a year was the best indication or the presence of an aggressive cancer.

Up until this point we have been able to connect rising PSA test levels with the possible presence of prostate cancer but have had to guess to some extent about whether such a cancer might be aggressive and require equally aggressive intervention.

Now however we are able to say with a fair degree of certainty that if a PSA level increases by more than 2 points in a year then prostate cancer is almost certainly aggressive and requires swift and vigorous treatment.