Procedure Detects Early Prostate Cancer

A new laboratory procedure can identify and detect the onset of prostate cancer in certain high-risk patients who have had their levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels tested more than once within a year.

Dr. Harry Fisch, professor of clinical urology at Columbia University Medical Center (New York, NY, USA), worked with BioReference Laboratories, Inc. (Elmwood Park, NJ, USA), to create an algorithm based on the company's informatics solutions that is often able to identify repeat patients who demonstrate a rapid rise in their PSA levels within a year, known as PSA velocity, even if the subsequent PSA level is still within the normal range (below 4 ng/dl).

PSA velocity can indicate a high probability that a patient has prostate cancer. PSA levels can be elevated by infections of the prostate or prostate enlargement, but can also be elevated in cases of prostate cancer. Dr. Fisch noted that the usefulness of PSA levels can be increased by determining the rate of change over time, as shown by recent research.

"This new PSA velocity determination adds more specificity and increased accuracy to prostate cancer screening,” added Dr. Fisch. "An increase in PSA velocity warrants clinical attention and should not be ignored.”

"We believe that BioReference's new initiative will provide substantial benefit to its practitioners that routinely check PSA levels of their patients,” observed Marc Grodman, M.D., president, CEO, and chairman of BioReference Laboratories. "Using our proprietary informatics solution, our lab is now able to provide better healthcare and service to physicians and patients nationwide.”







Related Links:
BioReference Laboratories
Columbia U. Medical Center