Scientists have made a new discovery that will contribute to confronting prostate cancer, by detecting the dangerous disease early.
One in eight men in Britain will develop prostate cancer in their lifetime, and the disease kills 12,000 people each year.
However, there is still no completely reliable way to detect this type of cancer and its level of spread, as the PSA test does not give accurate indicators.
This test measures prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a protein produced by both cancerous and noncancerous tissues in the prostate, a small gland located below the bladder in males.
PSA is often found in semen, which is also produced in the prostate.
Small amounts of PSA normally circulate in the blood.
A PSA test can detect high levels of PSA that may indicate the presence of prostate cancer.
However, many other conditions, such as an enlarged or inflamed prostate, can also increase PSA levels.
So determining what high levels of PSA mean can be complicated, according to the Mayo Clinic website.
Scientific breakthrough
According to the British newspaper “Daily Mail”, scientists have come up with a blood test conducted on more than 1,000 men, which identifies prostate cancer cells in the blood with high accuracy.
The newspaper said that British medical institutions are currently testing the “Trublood” test, which was developed by the Indian company “Datar Cancer Genetics”.
And the results of the study, published in the “Science of Cancer” magazine, in which researchers in India collaborated with Imperial College and Guy’s Hospital in London, which monitored the extent of its success in discovering 160 patients with prostate cancer, proved to be very encouraging.
The trial correctly screened all 160 people with the disease, without a blood test misidentifying any of the 800 healthy men as having the disease.
Prostate Cancer UK, which supported the research, said: “This study shows very promising results, and suggests that it may be possible to use this test to detect cancer in the first place.”