PSA Test

After skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common malignancy in American men. More than 180,000 men in the U.S. will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year, and more than 30,000 will die of the disease. There is a 1 in 10 chance that American men will develop signs of prostate cancer during their lifetime.

Prostate cancer can be detected through two tests. One is the digital rectal exam, in which a doctor feels the prostate through the rectum to find hard or lumpy areas. The other is a prostate specific antigen test (PSA). This blood test is used to detect a substance made by the prostate called prostate specific antigen (PSA) test. A blood sample is drawn and the amount of PSA is measured in a laboratory. Low amounts of PSA may be found in healthy men and increases as a man’s prostate enlarges with age. Inflammation of the prostate and prostate cancer increases the level of PSA. Together, both the digital rectal exam and PSA test can detect many prostate cancers, including those that have not caused symptoms. A PSA test is also used to monitor the response to treatment.

Neither of them is perfect, however. Most men with mildly elevated PSA do not have prostate cancer, and many men with prostate cancer have normal levels of PSA. Also, the digital rectal exam can miss many prostate cancers. Other diagnostic tests are needed to determine if cancer, or some other prostate condition exists.

A PSA level ranging from 0 to 4 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml) is considered normal for an average man, A PSA level of 4 to 10 ng/ml is considered slightly elevated. Levels between 10 and 20 ng/ml are considered moderately elevated, and anything above that is considered highly elevated.

Screening is recommended annually for men over the age 50 or for those who have a higher-than-normal risk of developing prostate cancer.