UPDATE - Issue 29 - Spring 2007
New test helps decision-making
It is standard practice to send a patient with a raised PSA for a biopsy. If the biopsy result is positive, treatment will commence following discussion of the options with the patient. But what if the biopsy comes back negative? Maybe another biopsy would find some cancer? Maybe there is nothing to find and a further biopsy proves to be both painful and unnecessary?
There is now a new non-invasive test for prostate cancer cells shed into the urine that is starting to be used to resolve this dilemma. A urine sample is tested for a substance called PCA3. Early indications are that the test is an extremely accurate predictor for prostate cancer. The higher the PCA3 value, the higher the cancer risk. Consultants are beginning to use the test to determine whether a repeat biopsy is needed for a patient who has already had a negative biopsy but still shows elevated PSA levels.
Professor Roger Kirby says 'We have found the PCA3 test especially helpful in determining the need for repeat prostatic biopsy in a patient with a previous negative biopsy and an elevated PSA. However the results of more studies are required before we can rely too heavily upon it'.