PSA Levels Offer The Best Indication Of The Presence of An Aggressive Prostate Cancer

PSA Levels Offer The Best Indication Of The Presence of An Aggressive Prostate Cancer
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Donald_Saunders]Donald Saunders

The Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test is a blood test which is commonly performed as a screening test to detect the presence of a swollen prostate gland and of prostate cancer. In spite of the fact that the test cannot by itself be used to diagnose these conditions it is an excellent indicator and, alongside other tests, PSA testing can suggest the need for additional investigation.

The test is usually recommended for men at particular risk (like those with a family history of the condition) once they reach the age of around 40 to 45 and for men in general over the age of 50.

An isolated test will give a snapshot of prostate specific antigen levels in the blood and could indicate a problem straight away if you record a particularly high score. However, in the majority of cases, and when a prostate problem is in its early development, a single test result will prove to be inconclusive and another test will usually be recommended a few weeks later. In fact, ideally PSA testing should be done regularly 2 or 3 times every year so PSA levels can be viewed over a reasonable period of time.

Provided that you have a normal score all is fine, but when your PSA levels begin to rise they have to be monitored closely. The speed at which levels rise is often referred to as the 'PSA velocity' and providing the rise is steady and the velocity slow then it is again frequently enough simply to monitor the situation as a lot of things can effect levels of PSA and seemingly increasing levels will frequently fall back to normal in time.

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

PSA testing and monitoring has been carried out for some considerable time but, despite the fact that the test has always been thought of as a good indicator of the need for additional investigation, it was not until very recently that we have been in a position to link specific PSA velocity to

in a way which can indicate the aggressiveness of a cancer.

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

In every case each patient had been diagnosed as suffering from aggressive on the basis of an isolated very high PSA score, the presence of an advanced stage tumor, a noticeable rise in PSA velocity in the year before diagnosis, a biopsy indicating an aggressive cancer at cellular level or a combination of two or more of these indicators.

This study also looked at the outcomes for all of the patients and found that a rapidly increasing PSA score which rose by 2 or more points in a twelve month period was the best indication or the presence of an aggressive cancer.

Up until now we have been able to associate increasing PSA test levels with an indication of the possible presence of but it has been necessary to guess to some extent about whether such a cancer is likely to be aggressive and need correspondingly aggressive treatment.

Now however we can say with a fair degree of certainty that if a PSA score increases by 2 or more points in a twelve month period then is almost certainly aggressive and requires swift and vigorous treatment.

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PSA Levels Offer The Best Indication Of The Presence of An Aggressive Prostate Cancer