Elevated Prostate Specific Antigen

The Prostate Specific Antigen or PSA is a blood test which may yield specific information about the health of the prostate gland. Many conditions such as prostate gland enlargement, inflammation or malignancy may lead to an elevated blood test making the PSA an imperfect test. Therefore, an elevated PSA does not necessarily translate into a diagnosis of cancer.

The goal is to identify a modality which will prevent unnecessary biopsies. During prostate biopsies, only a small percentage of patients yield a positive result. Patients diagnosed with prostate cancer are stratified and treated based on tumor grade and volume of disease. Many patients with low volume and low grade disease may be candidates for surveillance protocols because of the indolent behavior of their tumor type.

Patients with potentially aggressive high grade disease will require definitive treatment, therefore it is increasingly important to identify and diagnose their condition.

The 4KSCORE is a relatively new commercially available blood test developed at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, which helps to further clarify the significance of an elevated PSA. This blood test identifies patients who require biopsies and subsequent identification of clinically significant cancers which require aggressive treatment.

We now offer the next generation of PSA testing, IsoPSA.

Dr. Frank sees patients at his West Orange office from nearby New Jersey towns, serving Livingson, Short Hills, Millburn, Maplewood, Montclair, Essex Fells, South Orange, Verona, Caldwell, and West Caldwell.