Press Release
Prostate Cancer Foundation of NZ 
16th March 2010

PSA TEST A VALUABLE INDICATOR IN NEW ZEALAND

 The PSA test as used by New Zealand doctors is a valuable procedure in helping assess the health of a prostate.  By itself it does not diagnose prostate cancer, but if used properly it gives doctors an indication of what might be happening with the prostate.

 

A story sourced from Washington DC by AFP quoted a commentary from the New York Times that said Richard Ablin, who developed the test that detects PSA in the blood, now queried the way it is used in the United States.

 

"While the test may be misused in the United States this is not the case in New Zealand," said the president of the New Zealand Prostate Cancer Foundation, Barry Young.

 

"New Zealand doctors use the test sensibly as one of the first indicators that something might be putting the prostate under stress.  This could be caused by an infection, enlargement of the prostate or even the effect of recent sexual intercourse.

 

"The important thing about the PSA test is the velocity of increase between one test and the next.  This is what doctors watch and, having also done the digital rectal examination (DRE) of the prostate, make their assessment of whether further action might be needed," said Mr Young.

 

"It is misleading to say that the PSA test diagnoses prostate cancer.  It does not.  Prostate cancer is diagnosed after a pathologist analyses tissue taken from the prostate during a biopsy.

 

"We should also not lose sight of the fact that in its early stages prostate cancer does not usually exhibit symptoms so men can be walking around with the disease developing within their bodies and not know about it.  When symptoms do occur then it can frequently be too late for effective curative treatment.

 

"This is why the PSA test is so valuable.  It is a first indicator that something might be going wrong with the prostate," said Mr Young.

 

He explained that PSA stood for prostate specific antigen, a protein produced by the prostate.  When the prostate is under stress it produces more PSA and this leaks into the blood.

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