New prostate cancer tool could help slash deaths and false positives

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A prostate cancer tool measuring your risk level could reduce deaths, according to experts. The risk of developing prostate cancer is estimated by an algorithm based on age, plus levels of two prostate cancer markers seen in blood.There isn't a single prostate cancer test, but if successful in future studies, the new tool could be turned into a national screening programme one day.At present, one of the first diagnostic tools used is a blood test measuring prostate specific antigen (PSA) as raised levels can signify a problem with the prostate, but the test isn't offered to all men.It has previously been suggested that screening on PSA levels alone could lead to more men needing a prostate biopsy - where a small sample of cells are collected for further examination - which can have side effects.

Others have raised concern about 'overtreatment' of a large number of men who have slow growing prostate cancer that would never have affected them during their lifetime.

The new study, published in the Journal of Medical Screening, examined a new algorithm which examines a man's levels of PSA and hK2 (human kalliknein peptidase) in the blood, as well as taking into account their age.

The paper examined how well the algorithm could predict prostate cancer by comparing blood samples of 571 men who later died after a prostate cancer diagnosis with the blood samples of 2,169 men never who were never diagnosed with the disease.