Low Free PSA Score With Prostate Cancer

When a doctor thinks that a patient might be suffering from benign prostatis hyperplasia, also known as prostate enlargement they will order a PSA prostate test. The value of this test is huge. The best thing is a low free psa score with prostate cancer.

You may be wondering what a PSA test is. PSA stands for prostate specific antigen. Antigen is a protein that is produced in the prostate. The prostate's job is to make the fluid that makes the semen. A lot of the PSA that has been produced ends up in the fluid that makes up the semen. Some PSA also ends up in the blood also. It is free to float where it wants in the blood, hence the term free PSA or it can also be bound with protiens, which are complexed PSA or cPSA.

Since the PSA can go into the blood, the PSA test is a blood test. It was created to find out what the level of PSA in the blood is. It can also measure the complete PSA level. The test measures the free PSA as well as the complexed PSA levels. Each PSA test, the total PSA, the free PSA, and the complexed PSA, will be done separately. This decision is up to the doctor as to what tests to order.

The PSA is not the only test that you will go through for your doctor to be able to make a diagnosis. In fact the PSA test should not be the only test used in diagnosing benign prostatis hyperplasia or prostate cancer. The only thing that the PSA test does is tell the level of the PSA. PSA levels are not the same from one man to another. The PSA level should be at about four nonograms per milliliter. If the concentration is higher than that then there is a possibility of prostate cancer.

Therefore you want a low free psa score with prostate cancer. Essentially a low score means that you are free of prostate cancer. A score between four and ten does not mean that you have prostate cancer for sure. You could also have something less serious such as prostatitis or an enlarged prostate.

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