How far along have blood tests for prostate cancer gone?
Thursday, October 30th, 2008 at
12:50 am
da_bigunit asked:
Tagged with: Blood Tests • Prostate • Prostate Cancer
Filed under: Cancer
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Speaking as a physician The answer you seek is yes! The blood test is extremely accurate but it does need to be done 12 monthly after the age of 50
I think they are pretty well advanced. There are two ways of testing for cancer — the finger used by the doctor, and the psa which she uses, which is in fact the blood test. The first gives an indication and the second confirms or denies it. You ask about 20 years. Things will be so advanced in 20 years that the doctor will only need to look at you to tell that you have cancer. Things are improving by geometric, rather than arithmetic progressions. You younger folks are so lucky.
The blood test for prostrate is to show how much of a certain chemical is being released into your blood stream if the percentage is higher than say 4 you very likely have cancer it ia reliable in so much as it gives an idicator that you need treatment so though not 100% accurate it is the best available .
Please see the web pages for more details on Prostate specific antigen. Prostate specific antigen (PSA) is a protein produced by the cells of the prostate gland. PSA is present in small quantities in the serum of normal men, and is often elevated in the presence of prostate cancer and in other prostate disorders. A blood test to measure PSA is the most effective test currently available for the early detection of prostate cancer. Higher than normal levels of PSA are associated with both localized and metastatic prostate cancer (CaP).
There is a lot of research into biomarkers for prostate cancer. Perhaps in 20 years, there will be something better than PSA. PSA itself is not especially accurate. This is because it’s produced by both healty and diseased prostate tissue. Since the prostate gradually enlarges as you age, the amount of PSA in your blood also increases. While a very high PSA usually means cancer, it may simply mean an unually large prostate. Similarly, many men are diagnosed with cancer, even if their PSA’s are below the magic “4.0″ number.
There are various auxilliary measurements…Free PSA and PSA velocity being two key measures, which can improve the accuracy of the test. But at this time, the only definitive test for prostate cancer is a comprehensive (and somewhat painful) biopsy.
The “finger” is an unfortunate part of the physical exam for adult men.Even in the PSA era, both the finger and the blood test are part of the annual routine. If you think it’s bad, ask the woman in your life what her annual exam is like.
I have had Prostate cancer, and had my prostate removed. The finger, better known as DRE(Digital Rectal Exam) is the best way to diagnose prostate problems. I wish more doctors used this method. Maybe then I would not have had the surgery. But once you are over fifty years old, the PSA blood test is the best way to determine if cancer exists. If a high reading is present, then a biopsy of the prostate will be the determining factor as to whether you have cancer or not. With advancing medicine and research, who knows the future. Hopefully we can take a pill to prevent cancer. But until then, I give you the finger as the best way to help you.