The August issue of the journal Urology published the results of a study demonstrating that the free PSA (prostate specific antigen) test is far more sensitive than the the PSA test in diagnosing cancer. Prostate specific antigen is a protein found in the blood secreted by the epithelial cells of the prostate, including cancer cells. High PSA levels indicate an abnormal condition of the prostate gland, which can be benign or malignant. Physicians use specific age ranges for PSA values to aid in diagnosing cancer. PSA readings that fall between 4 to 10 ng/mL are diagnostically uncertain and require a painful and expensive biopsy to confirm malignancy, yet 75% of men with PSAs in this range have benign biopsies. Several forms of PSA exist. Most is complexed and the minority is unbound, or free PSA. Determining PSA density is another method of diagnosing prostate cancer, but this requires an ultrasound to determine the volume of the prostate by which the PSA level is then divided. The study included 773 men ages fifty through seventy-five whose PSA levels were between 4 and 10 mL and whose diagnosis was confirmed. The patients then received PSA, free PSA and PSA density tests. Using the method of evaluating total PSA by age-specific PSA cutoffs missed an average of forty percent of all cancers in men over 60 years of age. Free PSA measurements and PSA density provided a 95% detection rate. The advantage of the free PSA test over PSA density is the unnecessity of an ultrasound. Lead study author William J. Catalona, MD, of the Division of Urologic Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine commented, "PSA is the best cancer tumor marker in all of medicine, but there is understandable pressure to improve its accuracy. This study shows that free PSA is the best available way to improve the accuracy of total PSA tests . . . Results of this study are significant because they show that free PSA tests can improve the accuracy of PSA tests and are more sensitive than age-specific reference ranges. They are as accurate as PSA density tests in the study, but less costly. Other studies have also shown that free PSA ratios can provide the bonus of telling patients and physicians how aggressive the cancer is." Summary by the Life Extension Foundation Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.