Baseline PSA testing should begin at age 40
What is a PSA test?
The PSA test is a simple blood test that may help in the early detection of prostate cancer.
What is PSA?
PSA, or Prostate Specific Antigen, is a substance produced by the prostate and released in small amounts to the bloodstream.
Where can you have a PSA test?
You can have your PSA test:
-at a local health services laboratory if ordered by your doctor - ($28 fee if there isn't a family history)
-In the Prostate Cancer Centre MAN VAN (one free baseline test)
(Click on the MAN VAN TRACKER ICON for the next public clinic)
What is the MAN VAN?
The MAN VAN is a mobile unit operated by the Prostate Cancer Centre. Its purpose is to increase awareness of the importance
of early detection of prostate cancer. On scheduled dates it offers on-the-spot baseline PSA testing at a variety of locations.
Types of MAN VAN Clinics -
Public Clinics - anyone over the age of 40 who hasn't had a baseline PSA test can attend. These clinics
are held at a public venue, sporting event or retail outlet - they are listed on the MAN VAN TRACKER on the right side
of each of our web pages.
Private Clinics -Employers can have the MAN VAN come right to their front door and test their employees on-site.
For more information on this service please call (403)943-8869.
Is it safe to have a PSA test?
Yes. A registered nurse or phlebotomist will draw a blood sample and all equipment is sterile. The possible
side effects are the same as any simple blood test: light-headedness, minor pain, bruising, bleeding, or infection
at the site of the needle puncture.
If my results are higher than normal do I have cancer?
High results DO NOT mean you have cancer. If your test score is high you will be given a requisition for a repeat PSA
test at a local laboratory. Your physician may recommend a DRE (digital rectal exam) If warranted, you may be referred
to a Urologist who may arrange for a biopsy. A biopsy is the only way to conclusively identify prostate cancer.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Men should have a baseline PSA test at age 40. If results are normal the test should be repeated at least
every five years until age 50. Men over 50 should have a PSA test every year.
The Prostate Cancer Centre recommends both DRE and PSA screening.
PSA SCREENING:
There is a new push from the American Urological Association to screen all younger men for baseline levels. Taking a baseline PSA score at age 40 would let doctors strategically follow men whose levels show they are more likely to develop deadly tumors.
A study published in the Annals of Oncology showed mortality from prostate cancer in the U.S. dropped by an estimated 23 to 38 percent, depending on the age group examined, in the years 2002 through 2006, as compared with 1985-1989 -- just before the PSA test was widely adopted. (The study was not one of those reviewed by the panel.)
"As a urologist, I feel that PSA testing has really saved a lot of lives in this country," said Dr. Judd Moul, director of the Duke Prostate Center in Durham, N.C.
The National Cancer Institute lists prostate cancer as the second most common cause of cancer death in men. An estimated 217,730 U.S. men received a prostate cancer diagnosis in 2010, and an estimated 32,050 men died from the disease that year, the panel said.