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PSA blood test for men.

Many oncological diseases are dangerous not by incurability, but by late detection of their presence in the body. In order to be on the safe side and start treatment on time, there are ways to detect the presence of cancer markers in the blood. So complex in terms of timely diagnosis, prostate cancer can be "caught" in the early stages, if you conduct a blood test for PSA.

The abbreviation PSA stands for Prostate Specific Antigen, a protein structure produced by the prostate gland. In a healthy state, the prostatic gland produces PSA in insignificant quantities, but in the case of the development of a cancerous tumor - adenocarcinoma - excessive synthesis of PSA protein begins. PSA in the blood is usually found in two states: bound and free. It is the concentration of free PSA that is important in the diagnosis and detection of prostate cancer.

The presence of inflammation in the prostate (prostatitis) and prostate adenoma (benign enlargement of the gland) can also affect the PSA level in a man's blood. But these signs should not be disregarded, as they can be precursors of carcinogenesis. All chronic inflammation and pathological tissue proliferation alarming oncologists, as they speak of a change in cellular structures towards the pathology of organs and tissues.

Considering that many age-related cancers have become "younger", measuring the PSA level in the blood does not hurt to evaluate even before the age of forty, especially if there are signs of prostatitis.

You should be aware that PSA levels physiologically increase with age. For example, for men in the age group 40-50 years, an elevated PSA level of 2.5 nanograms per milliliter is not a pathology. But if PSA at this age starts from 4 and more nanograms per milliliter, it is worth sounding the alarm.

Men should be tested for PSA regularly, starting at the age of 35, so that the statistics of an increase in the level of this antigen can be tracked and the treatment of prostate cancer can be started on time.

For analysis for the PSA tumor marker, blood is taken from a vein. In order for the PSA indicators to be reliable, it is necessary, several days before blood sampling, not to conduct examinations of the prostate gland, including a direct effect on it: massage, examination by palpation, biopsy sampling, hardware examination, so as not to stimulate the production of PSA.