New screening test for prostate cancer is more accurate than previous methods
Prostate health is a major concern for men as they grow older, and many doctors recommend that they buy Flomax to treat any enlargement of the gland.
Prostate health is a major concern for men as they grow older, and many doctors recommend that they buy Flomax to treat any enlargement of the gland. Recently, a study from Northwestern Medicine revealed a new screening test that may be able to help physicians more accurately diagnose the disease.
Expert David B. Samadi from the Mount Sinai Medical Center said that the new technique, called Prostate Health Index, compares the levels of three different types of prostate-specific antigens (PSAs) in the blood. Doing so can help doctors better determine whether elevated PSA levels are due to the presence of prostate cancer, or to inflammation or enlargement of the gland.
"The PSA test has long been the standard for prostate cancer, but has also been controversial in failing to detect aggressive cancers from slow-growing ones that would not have been life-threatening," Samadi explained.
He added that one method alone is never enough, and that PSA results had to be combined with scores from other tests such as the Gleason and digital rectal exams.
The study revealed that the Prostate Health Index more accurately detected cancer in men over the age of 50 who had suspiciously high levels of blood PSA.
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