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What is a PSA Test?

What is a PSA test?

PSA (Prostate-Specific Antigen) is used as an additional test to measure men's risk of prostate cancer. In some cases, it may not be enough alone. Under the supervision of a doctor's examination and a urologist, it should be evaluated together with other examinations.

What is PSA?

PSA is an enzyme secreted by the prostate that allows the secretion of semen. It allows sperm to liquefy.

What is PSA used for?

Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer in men. The diagnosis is made by a biopsy taken from the prostate. But a prostate biopsy is not performed on every suspected patient. For this reason, men over 50 at risk of prostate cancer are given a blood test called a PSA test. PSA is an enzyme secreted by the prostate that allows the secretion of semen. This enzyme is not secreted only in prostate cancer. In cases of prostate enlargement and inflammation, its release and passage into the blood also increase. PSA is a test that is performed frequently because it is an easy-to-access test performed in all health institutions, but it may not always give the correct result.

What should be the normal value of PSA?

The values of PSA should vary according to age. While one is in a 40-year-old person, two is acceptable in a person 50-55 years old; we can consider 4 in the 60s and 6 in the 70s as the normal limit value. But if the values are below these numbers, PSA does not mean there is no prostate cancer risk. There is a risk of prostate cancer even when the PSA is within normal limits. For this reason, the PSA value alone is not used to diagnose prostate cancer. For this reason, a doctor's examination is very important. The person who will make the correct diagnosis is a urologist.

Is the PSA test alone sufficient?

Some types of cancer do not produce PSA. Some types of cancer, on the other hand, recur quite slowly, but PSA releases are excessive. For this reason, the PSA test alone does not make sense. A PSA test does not make a definitive diagnosis of prostate cancer, although it does give a possibility. Important here is the examination of a urologist. Here, the urologist is the person who will make the most accurate diagnosis with both a PSA test and other examination methods after the examination. Whatever needs to be done in the treatment, it is healthiest to do it under the control of a urologist.

Updated at : 15-09-2022