'Prostate cancer test in 10 minutes'

'Prostate cancer test in 10 minutes'
7 Oct 2008, PTI

LONDON: Imagine walking into a lab in the lunch hour to undergo a clinical test for prostate cancer and coming out in just ten minutes with the resul
t.

Cut to reality. Scientists in Britain have developed a blood test which they claim can assess the level of a cancer marker, called Prostate Specific Antigen, in ten minutes, the Daily Mail reported.

Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) is a protein which leaks out of the prostate gland when it is damaged. A raised
PSA level does not necessarily mean the patient has prostate cancer, but could suggest the need for further investigation.

Previously, men had to wait several days for results. Now, the test, called PSAWatch, will make it easier to screen men for prostate cancer — it needs a drop of blood from a finger-prick which is analysed using a portable machine.

"We have come to rely heavily on the PSA test for prostate cancer screening in UK, and it forms an important part of the criteria used by GPs", said Dr Tim Larner, a urologist at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals.