The Prostate Test That Has 90pc Success ; Could This Breakthrough Lead to National Screening for Men? ;GOOD HEALTH

A TEST has been launched today that will detect 90 per cent of prostate cancers.

The current method for screening has an accuracy of only 50-60 per cent.

This results in many men needing a further invasive test to find out if they have the disease. PSA (prostate specific antigen) testing has been around for many years and has been a useful method of alerting doctors to cancer.

PSA is a chemical signal which is released from the prostate. When the prostate is unhealthy, there’s more PSA floating around in a man’s system.

Current tests measure the total PSA in the blood. But men with prostate cancer tend to have more PSA bound to a specific protein in the blood – and this is the measurement the new test takes.

Racing driver Sir Stirling Moss underwent successful cancer treatment after a PSA test revealed he could have the disease.

However, the test has been controversial because of the many ‘false positives’ it gives.

This is one reason why the NHS has not introduced routine prostate cancer screening for men over 50.

With the introduction of a refined form of PSA test, experts hope prostate cancer screening might become a reality.

The Complex Prostate Specific Antigen Test (CPSA) has been developed by pharmaceutical company Bayer.

Introduced in the U.S. two years ago, it is now available to doctors here and is likely to replace the conventional test.

Levels of PSA rise in men who have cancer, but there can be other reasons for elevated PSA readings. An enlarged prostate or a prostate which is inflamed will also produce high readings.

Having sex close to a test or regular cycling can also cause a PSA level to rise enough to require invasive testing.

Dr Richard Petty, of the Weymouth Street Wellman Clinic in London, who has introduced the Complex PSA test, says men are reluctant to undergo health screening.

‘Many middle-aged men have heard of the PSA test, but have also heard it’s not very accurate,’ he says.

THEY get to hear of men who have had to go for an invasive biopsy test, where a needle is put into their prostate to remove cells to look for cancer.

And then it turns out they don’t have cancer after all. This test is very uncomfortable, so it is not something we like to do.

‘With the old PSA test, if you had someone with a high reading, you had to send them for a biopsy, knowing that the chances of cancer being found were less than 50 per cent.

‘I now feel a lot more confident about sending a patient on for further tests. I know any man who has a high Complex PSA level is likely to have cancer. It’s not good news, but the test seems to be doing the job.’ When he started testing patients using CPSA, Dr Petty carried out his own small trial, which confirmed the findings of official trials.

He says: ‘I would give patients both tests and see that the ordinary PSA test was telling me I should send a patient for a biopsy while the CPSA was within the normal range.’ Dr Chris Price, a former Professor of Pathology at Bart’s Hospital, London, now working for Bayer, says the new test ought to give the NHS enough confidence to screen men routinely for prostate cancer.

‘The question of accuracy – which has made doctors and the NHS hold back – has been overcome.

‘There are 30,000 men out there with prostate cancer, and 10,000 a year dying from the disease. More people being tested with an effective screening method would lead to more lives being saved.’

PROSTATE Cancer Charity: 0845 3008 383;

www.prostatecancer.org.uk