How Reliable Are PSA Tests In Determining Whether A Person Has Prostate Cancer?

Dr. Kevin Kelly answers the question: 'How Reliable Are PSA Tests?'

By
Kevin Kelly, M.D., Director, Yale Cancer Center, Prostate and Urologic Cancers Program, Yale
November 19, 2008, 12:19 PM ET
1 min read

March 16, 2009 -- Question: How reliable are PSA tests in determining whether a person has prostate cancer?

Answer: There's been a lot of controversy over the use of PSA. The absolute number of PSA probably is not as accurate as looking at what the trend of PSA is over time. Our continuous rise in PSA is of very much concern for prostate cancer. And those are the values that we actually look at, not necessarily the absolute value of PSA, because it varies from age to age.