Prostate Cancer Test Benefits African-American Men

The "free" PSA blood test is highly accurate in detecting prostate cancer in African-American men, the group with the highest rate of prostate cancer in the world.

Study results published in the March issue of Urology indicate that the FDA-approved blood test works as reliably in African-American men as it does in white men. The test can be used to help men avoid unnecessary and costly biopsies.

Prostate-specific antigen exists in several forms in the blood. Some forms are bound to protein and others are unbound, or "free."

"It is crucial that we can rely on our most effective screening tools to work equally well on all men regardless of their race," says study co-author Dr. Kevin Slawin, assistant professor of urology at Baylor College of Medicine and director of the Baylor Prostate Center at The Methodist Hospital.

The free PSA test is a follow-up to the PSA test. It helps determine whether slight elevations shown in the PSA test are due to cancer or just an enlarged prostate.

The screening information provided by the free PSA test will be of the most benefit to those at high risk for prostate cancer, Dr. Slawin says.

"We don't know for sure why African-Americans have a higher rate of cancer or why they tend to have less favorable outcomes," he says. "However, early detection is currently our best weapon in the fight against prostate cancer."

Researchers say African-American men tend to develop prostate cancer at a younger age. When the cancer is diagnosed, it is often more advanced and more aggressive.

The free PSA test is used as a follow-up test for men who have a moderately elevated level of PSA. Of this group of men, whites have a 25 percent risk of having prostate cancer, while the risk in African-American men is from 30 percent to 50 percent.

Before the free PSA test was developed, the men in this group were subject to repeat biopsies.

The report is based on a multi-center study, the largest to compare free PSA test results between the two races. It was conducted in seven major U.S. medical facilities, using the Hybritech free PSA assay manufactured by Beckman Coulter, Inc.

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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