New Prostate Cancer Test Could be 90% Accurate

I found this article interesting as a male because Dr. Wasser said that all males if they live long enough develop some form of prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of death from cancer in men in the United States. The new test identified the biomarkers on the cancer cells in the prostate 90% of the time. 73 cancer patients were used in the test and 60 control patients were used during this experiment. The new test uses its own folded protein in order to detect autoantibodies within the prostate cancer serum. Cancer is able to cause the immune system to create autoantibodies because the cancer destroys normal proteins. The new test is different from older tests because it detects more than one biomarker. Older tests are less accurate because they only tested for one of the biomarkers. This is important because if this drug can differentiate between healthy and diseased cells then, the chances of treating and getting rid of the cancer can happen quicker. This means that the patient will have a better chance of survival with earlier and better detection. This could also prevent healthy patients from having to undergo tests that are not needed. I also know that most men start getting tested for prostate cancer at age of 40, or at least that is when my dad started. He goes every year and says that the test is uncomfortable. If the test is truly 90% accurate then maybe males will not have to go through unwanted tests.

Link:
www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/202934.php