'While you wait' PSA test now available

Although the Department of Health position is currently against screening for prostate cancer, there is growing interest in the early detection of the disease.  In both Germany and the USA, there is already an effective screening and diagnostic service.

The most sensitive test available is the prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test.  The value of the PSA test lies in its simplicity, objectivity, reproducibility, lack of invasiveness and low cost.

The present method of carrying out a PSA test in the UK is to take a blood sample and have it analysed in a pathology laboratory.  It typically takes about a week for the results to become available and the cost of the laboratory work is at least £10.

Now, products are becoming available which make the test simpler, quicker and cheaper.  Near Patient Technologies, based in Suffolk are exclusively distributing a PSA testing kit which is designed to be used in a GP's surgery.  The blood sample is derived from a finger prick.  Colour changes on a special paper indicate one of three conditions; a PSA less than 4 - the patient does not appear to have prostate cancer; a PSA between 4 and 10 - it is possible that the patient has the disease, further tests are required; and a PSA greater than 10 - it is rather likely that the patient has the disease and should be seen as a matter of urgency by a consultant urologist.

It is likely that we shall see products such as this one being used in doctors' surgeries in the near future.  There are cost savings with the immunographic paper test costing about £2.  There are time savings both for the doctor and the patient.  The test can probably be administered in two or three minutes and, of course, the week's delay in waiting for a result can be eliminated.