The Prostate Gene that Helps Find Prostate Cancer

The PSA or prostate specific antigen blood test has been the most reliable indicator to date of the presence

of prostate cancer. The PSA is at test that millions of men rely on to screen for prostate cancer and it has proven bvery valuable in the fight with this disease.

Researchers at Wake Forest University say they have now identified 5 genetic variants in screening tests of the blood or saliva. The variants when present individually are not as reliable as is the presence of four or five of the variables. The blood or saliva samples will take about a week to be processed fro the results after they have been received by the lab.

Researchers caution that more work is required to determine how effective this test will be in individual men because not all men have these genes. They are expected to make the gene test widely available soon.

The family history is important and the likelihood of the presence of the variants is increased if there is a previous family history of prostate cancer. I have a friend who had prostate cancer diagnosed several years ago and who ahs a twin brother who had the test done on a blood sample and when it indicated he could have cancer, he made an appointment with his urologist and a biopsy was performed and he did indeed have prostate cancer on biopsy. This individual's PSA had always been a little high but was still within normal limits and the cancer would not have been detected based on the PSA.

The test is not perfect and there can be false positives, but it does seem to be a very encouraging advance in the prostate cancer battle.