Clinicians should closely follow patients with rising PSA levels despite negative biopsies
Many doctors recommend that men buy Flomax in order to treat an enlarged prostate.
Many doctors recommend that men buy Flomax in order to treat an enlarged prostate. The prevalence of cancer in this gland has increased significantly over the years, leading to growing public awareness of the importance of seeking immediate medical evaluation. A common test to determine whether a patient may be at risk for prostate cancer is to check levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a protein that appears in the blood at elevated levels when there is an infection in the gland.
Although this screening technique can sometimes prompt biopsies that turn out to be normal, it is an effective method for the majority of cases, according to researchers from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. An estimated 70 percent of men who had high levels of PSA and subsequent normal biopsies were eventually diagnosed with prostate cancer.
"Our findings show an elevated and rising PSA level or velocity should lead a clinician to follow a patient more closely, even if he has had a negative biopsy," said physician William Catalona. "One negative biopsy isn't the end of the road."
He and his colleagues presented their findings on May 18 at the 2011 Annual Meeting of the American Urological Association.
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