Prostate specific antigen test must be repeated before biopsy

doi:10.1136/bmj.326.7401.1231

BMJ 2003;326:1231 (7 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.326.7401.1231

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Prostate specific antigen test must be repeated before biopsy

Scott Gottlieb

New York

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The blood test that measures prostate specific antigen (PSA)to detect prostate cancer often produces false positive resultsand should be repeated at least once before an invasive biopsyis performed, a new study says.

"We recommend having the findings confirmed by repeating thetest after waiting at least six weeks," said Dr James Eastham,a surgeon in the department of urology at the Memorial Sloan-KetteringCancer Center in New York and lead author of the study.

"Even if the repeat test shows an elevated level, prostate cancer will only be discovered in about one quarter of men who undergobiopsy... A single, elevated PSA level does not automaticallywarrant a prostate biopsy," he said.

In the study Dr Eastham and colleagues tested blood samplesfrom 972 men, aged 35 to 89, who had originally enrolled ina study on preventing colon polyps. A total of five consecutiveblood samples . . . [Full text of this article]

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