Most men are aware they have a prostate without actually knowing its purpose. It’s a walnut sized gland located just below the bladder which wraps around the urethra, the tube which allows the expulsion of urine and semen. Only men have a prostate and its purpose is to produce and add a secretion to semen which is basically made to protect sperm.

Again many of us have heard of prostate psa levels and guess it’s something to do with having cancer. To a degree that is correct providing the psa readings strongly indicate cancer may be present and confirmation is made by other means such as through tissue biopsy.

Prostate specific antigen is a protein and is secreted naturally by the prostate.
A low level of psa will be found in the blood but if this level is abnormal it signals concern that cancer may be the cause. However, one of the biggest drawbacks everyone faces and that goes for both the medical profession and for the male population, is that the psa blood test is not very reliable and even a prostate biopsy can be inconclusive and lead to false results.

For the over fifty male a prostate test is often carried out during an annual check-up when a blood test is done for cholesterol levels etc. There is a standard rating of expected levels of prostate specific antigen and it is accepted these levels increase slightly with age.

A measure of 4ng/mL or lower is considered normal;
From 4 – 10 ng/mL slightly elevated;
10 – 20 ng/mL moderately elevated;
20 – 30 or above highly elevated.

A result of the slightly elevated range is likely to warrant further investigation to see why this would be so. The drawback, as mentioned is these results are not very reliable in this instance.

Even if your antigen results are elevated it could be due to something completely other than a cancer. It has been noted that possibly sex involving ejaculation within 48 hours of a test, strenuous exercise such as weightlifting and even long regular bouts of cycling may skew the outcome. Another important factor is that the majority of men over the age of fifty will experience an inevitable enlargement of the prostate.

This condition is called benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and in itself does not cause cancer but does increase the levels of prostatic specific antigen; so too does prostatitis, an inflammation of the gland. Though neither of these conditions lead to cancer nor have anything whatsoever to do with it, it is quite possible to develop prostate cancer separately as well as suffer either condition.

Although as prostate cancer develops it can damage the tissue which allows psa to leak out of the gland and it is often this that may be an alert, it is not guaranteed to happen. As a consequence many can have cancer without any signs or symptoms until it becomes well established; by then other symptoms such as back pain or blood in urine may be the indicator. So a man can have elevated levels yet it is definitely NOT due to cancer. It’s all a bit of a minefield.

Although this test is not the best it is presently one of the few available and can be a life saver in the right circumstances because it raises the flag something might be wrong. Should any man encounter increased Prostate specific antigen levels the best course of action is not to panic but to cautiously get it investigated, then take a stage at a time.