Prostate Specific Antigen Test - The Best Diagnostic Test For Prostate Cancer

The Prostate Specific Antigen test is a must for every man over the age of 40 just the way PAP test is imperative for every female over the age of 30. It's important to understand how the test functions and its role in keeping you healthy. The prostate gland secretes a protein which is called protease which is a prostate specific antigen. The PSA test measures this protease. If the PSA level in the blood is high it is a good indicator of the presence of prostate cancer or benign prostate hyperplasia. Since early detection of prostate cancer improves the chance of totally curing the cancer many folds this test becomes very important in making sure you live a long happy life ahead. In case the PSA test shows a very low level of prostate specific antigen in the blood another test will be performed. This test is called the monoclonal antibody technique. This test measures all the prostate specific antigens, independent or attached with other substances, present in the blood. The total PSA will be the addition of the values resulted from both the tests. As long as the result is below 4.5 ng/ml there is nothing much to worry but if its over a biopsy would be necessary to make sure there is no cancer.

Other Possibilities

As far as medical science is concerned the prostate specific antigen has two main uses; diagnosis, specifically for prostate cancer and also to check the response to the treatment. The high levels of prostate specific antigen in the blood may be indicating to some other prostate ailments also. They may be an infection in the prostate gland or prostatic hypertorhy, which means enlargement of the prostate. The risk of prostates hypertorhy is keeps increasing with the age as you grow over forty years of age. Most medical facilities offer the prostate specific antigen test free of cost whish surely is good news.

There are a few things to be kept in mind before taking a prostate specific antigen test. There are many drugs, both herbal and otherwise, that influence the amount of the prostate specific antigen in the blood. So it is important to tell the doctor beforehand about what medications you are taking and for how long have you been on them. Also it is important to let the doctor know what you are taking the medication for as there are many treatments which affect the PSA test results a great deal.

You don't want the results of your PSA test to be inaccurate as the above mentioned issue may result in a negative indication even though you might have just started a cancer growing in your prostate. Therefore, it becomes vital that you take the prostate specific antigen test only when you are sure nothing is going to interfere with the test result.

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