Questions about the Home PSA Test

• Why Take the PSA Blood Test?

  Whether it’s inflammation, benign prostatic syndrome, or cancer, prostate diseases can be treated better the earlier they are detected.

  For example, prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate) can become chronic if it is not treated early, with consequences spanning from problems with urination to erectile dysfunction. Prostate cancer can be fatal. In the United States, it is the most common type of cancer in men, with the American Cancer Society estimating just under 250,000 cases of prostate cancer nationwide per year.

  At the same time, some changes in the prostate (such as prostate cancer) are often not accompanied by noticeable symptoms for a long time. The PSA blood test can help you get an early indication of such diseases, which can improve the chances of treatment.

  It is important to get a medical examination if you have elevated PSA levels. This is because in many cases, PSA levels are elevated without cancer causing them. Doctors can look into this more closely and give you recommendations for treatment, depending on the diagnosis.

• Who Should Take the PSA Test?

  All men or people who have a prostate should consider taking the cerascreen® PSA Test.

  As a rule, examinations for detecting prostate cancer are recommended for men from the age of 45, as the cancer usually occurs at an older age. However, other diseases of the prostate, such as prostatitis, can affect people of all ages.

  A PSA Test is particularly useful if you suspect you have a higher risk of prostate cancer – for example, because there are cases of prostate cancer in your family.

• How Does the PSA Test Work?

  For the PSA Blood Test, take a small blood sample from your fingertip with a lancet. Only a few drops of blood are needed for this. Collect the drops on a dried blood spot card – this way, you only have to take a very small amount of blood, and the sample can be stored for a long time.

  The sample is sent free of charge to our specialized medical laboratory in a return envelope. The laboratory analyzes the concentration of prostate-specific antigen in your blood.

  After the lab analysis, you will receive a notification telling you that you can access the results report by logging in to your account on our website or via the My cerascreen® app.

• What Will the Results Tell Me?

  Your results report notifies you of your PSA levels and therefore the concentration of prostate-specific antigen in your blood.

  You will also find out whether your PSA levels are within the reference range – that is, within the usual range used as a reference for healthy adults. If the PSA value is above 4 nanograms per milliliter of blood, it is considered to be high, according to these reference values.

• What Recommendations Will I Receive?

  If your PSA levels are in the higher range, we recommend that you contact your doctor for further tests.

  We will also give you a number of recommendations to help you avoid risk factors for prostate cancer and prevent prostate disease. This primarily involves leading a healthy lifestyle with a balanced diet and regular exercise.

• What Is a PSA Level?

  The prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is a protein that is produced in the prostate by healthy cells. The larger the prostate, the more PSA is produced – which is why levels usually increase with age, when the prostate naturally enlarges.

  But diseases can also cause the prostate to grow and release more PSA. This is the case with benign prostatic syndrome, but also when cancer cells develop in prostate cancer.

  The more PSA is produced in the prostate, the more can be detected in the blood – this is the basis of PSA blood tests.

• What Is Prostatitis?

  Prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate) is usually caused by a bacterial infection, in which pathogens migrate from the blood, bladder, or urethra into the prostate. Prostatitis can cause various unpleasant symptoms, especially:

  • Pain in the perineal area
  • Fever
  • Difficulty and pain urinating
  • Erectile dysfunction
  • Fatigue and weakness

  If the disease lasts three months or longer, experts call it chronic prostatitis. Symptoms are usually not as severe as with acute prostatitis.

  
  

• What Is Benign Prostatic Syndrome?

  When non-malignant cells multiply in the prostate gland and cause it to grow, this is called benign prostatic syndrome (BPS) or benign prostatic enlargement. This change in the prostate is very common in older age.

  These benign cell changes do not usually develop into prostate cancer. However, an enlarged prostate can cause symptoms such as frequent urination, pain when urinating, and incontinence.

• What Is Prostate Cancer?

  Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers of all. Worldwide, it is the second most common cancer in men and the fifth leading cause of death.*

  The most important risk factor for prostate cancer is age. This type of cancer is very rare in people under 50, but the risk rises sharply in older age. It is likely that very old men almost always develop prostate cancer – studies in which people were examined in a post-mortem after their death revealed that nine out of ten men over 90 had this tumor in their bodies.

  It is true that some tumors in the prostate can grow quickly and lead to dangerous metastases. However, prostate cancer often grows slowly or not at all for a long time. As long as the cancer remains in the prostate, it usually causes little discomfort. Because the cancer often grows so slowly, the numbers of deaths from prostate cancer are also relatively low, even though the disease is so common. In fact, those affected by prostate cancer often die of other causes.

  * Source: Rawla, Prashanth “Epidemiology of Prostate Cancer,” World journal of oncology, vol. 10.2 (2019), pp. 63–89, doi:10.14740/wjon1191.

• How Is Prostate Cancer Diagnosed and Treated?

  To detect prostate cancer early, urology specialists perform PSA tests as well as palpation examinations on the prostate.

  In the United States, a PSA test alone is not enough to diagnose someone with prostate cancer – although it can detect aggressive forms of the cancer or a slower-growing cancer. Most men are now offered another PSA test, a test for urinary tract infections, or – in some cases – an ultrasound. This is to confirm or rule out prostate cancer.

  If the PSA value, palpation, ultrasound, or MRI reveal a reason to suspect prostate cancer, doctors usually perform a prostate biopsy. This involves taking tissue from the prostate, which is then examined in the laboratory. This biopsy usually leads to a clear diagnosis.

  If a tumor is found in the prostate, it can be treated with surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or hormone therapy. If the cancer is in an early stage and has not yet metastasized, it is often easy to cure. However, surgery can lead to complications and side effects such as incontinence and impotence.

• What Are the Symptoms of Prostate Cancer?

  Prostate cancer often causes no symptoms for years. That’s why it’s difficult to detect prostate cancer without regular medical examinations.

  Nevertheless, there are some possible symptoms you can look out for, especially in combination with high PSA levels. These include:

  • Pain when urinating
  • Weak urine flow and the feeling of not completely emptying your bladder
  • Sudden weight loss and weaker stamina
  • Pain or swelling in your body
  • Blood in your stool or loose stool
  • Persistent cough with an unknown cause
• Is Prostate Cancer Screening Available in the United States?

  Experts are currently discussing whether regular PSA tests for men over a certain age should become routine for prostate cancer screening. At the moment, it is debatable whether the benefit of the tests is greater than the emotional or financial harm they may cause. However, some larger studies are currently being conducted that should help to investigate the significance of PSA measurement.

  The advantage of a PSA test is that it can detect cases of prostate cancer very early. And as with all cancers, the earlier they are treated, the better the chances of successful treatment. Based on a large European study,* researchers estimate that PSA testing can prevent 3 out of 1,000 men from developing metastases and dying from prostate cancer.

  The downside is that there is a potential for false alarms, as PSA levels can be elevated without cancer being present. This leads to some people undergoing examinations and treatments that would not have been necessary and that can bring complications. Often, a potential cancer diagnosis also causes significant emotional distress. In addition, prostate cancer often does not appear until old age – often, it does not require treatment because other causes lead to death beforehand. A PSA test can also give you false-negative results when it comes to tumor diagnosis because prostate cancer in its early stages does not always cause elevated PSA levels.

  *Source: Schröder, F. H et al. “Screening and prostate cancer mortality: results of the European Randomised Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC) at 13 years of follow-up.” Lancet (London, England), vol. 384,9959 (2014), pp. 2027–35, doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60525-0.

  
  

• Who Should Not Take the Home PSA Test?

  Our PSA blood test is not intended for certain people or only in special circumstances:

  • People with hemophilia should not take the test.
  • The PSA blood test is not intended for children under the age of 18.

  The test is not intended for diagnosing illnesses or disease. For example, if you suffer from moderate physical pain or long-term erectile dysfunction, consult a doctor.