The need for Prostate-Specific Anteigen PSA Testing

03 Apr The need for Prostate-Specific Anteigen PSA Testing

Urologists urge men to get tested for prostate cancer from age 40

NRL commentator, Daryl Brohman and Qantas CEO Alan Joyce both credit a simple PSA blood test for prostate cancer for saving their lives.

While Prostate Cancer is often associated with older men, Joyce was in his early forties and Brohman in his early fifties when they were diagnosed and treated.  Like many men with prostate cancer, neither man had shown any symptoms and consider themselves lucky their cancer was picked up before it was too late.

“We would encourage men to ask their GP about a PSA test for prostate cancer at around age 40,” says leading urological surgeon, Dr Paul Cozzi.

“There is increasing data suggesting that a baseline PSA (prostate specific antigen) blood test for men at around age 40 can predict both lifetime risk of developing cancer and raise a flag for potentially lethal cancers, which can be confirmed by a subsequent biopsy.”

Such an approach could help identify men at high risk who may benefit from early treatment or from an active surveillance regime,” says Dr Paul Cozzi.

Both the Urological Society of Australia and new Zealand and the Royal College of Pathologists  recommend men seek a test from the age of forty in consultation with their GPs.

“The message is now loud and clear that there is growing evidence showing that PSA tests save lives and that early detection is the key to reducing deaths from prostate cancer,” Dr Cozzi said.

Around 3,300 Australian men died from prostate cancer annually.