PSA Test

You usually don't have any symptoms in the early stages of prostate cancer; however, as the tumor grows, it may spread from the prostate to surrounding areas. Fortunately, with the advent of a simple blood test known as Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA), most prostate cancers can be diagnosed in the earliest stages when cure rates are extremely high. PSA is an enzyme produced in the prostate. An elevated PSA level in the bloodstream does not necessarily indicate prostate cancer; nonetheless, a PSA level greater than 4.0 nanograms per milliliter of serum may trigger a prostate biopsy to search for cancer.