Duke to Doctors: PSA Tests on Obese Men are Misleading
Research led by the Duke University Medical Center is causing doctors to reconsider the results of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood tests done on their overweight patients.
Duke’s study of 535 men has revealed that males classified as overweight and obese based on their Body Mass Index have deceptively low concentrations of PSA in their bloodstreams when compared to similar patients maintaining a healthy weight.
PSA protein levels become elevated when prostate cancer is present so PSA tests are one of the diagnostic tools medical professionals rely on to detect the common disease. PSA values are also considered when determining appropriate treatments options for patients who have already been diagnosed.
Experts have suggested that PSA concentrations may be lower in overweight patients because they have a larger volume of blood. Duke’s investigation confirmed that belief by showing that PSA counts conducted on mildly obese and severely obese study groups were 14% and 29% percent lower respectively than their normal-weight counterparts (73% of the total study population was overweight).
Researchers involved with the study recommend clinicians compensate for the difference by lowering their threshold for abnormal PSAs when they test overweight patients. As the study’s lead author said,
“If we don’t do that, we may be missing cancers in obese men, which could lead to delayed diagnosis and poorer outcomes.”
Stephen Freedland, MD
Urologist, Duke University Medical Center
Duke University’s PSA study was funded by the US Department of Defense and is published in the February 9, 2008, issue of the journal Urology.
Source: DukeMedNews
Related Links: ScienceDaily; Cancer Research UK
Related Video:
Technorati Tags: cancer detection; genitourinary cancers; oncology; tumors; urologic cancers; Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center; Duke School of Nursing; Duke Prostate Center; Durham, NC; University of Toronto; pathology
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