Prostate cancer screening with tests for prostate specific antigen (PSA) is controversial because the test is not very specific, resulting in unnecessary biopsies and fear. A team of researchers from Germany and Sweden has developed a new test that may avoid these problems.
The new test identifies small fatty spheres called prostasomes. Prostasomes are produced by both normal and cancerous prostate cells. Under normal conditions, prostatsomes are found in semen but in cancer patients, the prostasomes can be found in the bloodstream and detected by a blood test. The test was also able to identify more aggressive tumors based on increased prostasome levels.
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