HIV Testing Promoted for Patients Having PSA Assays

U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Washington DC (USA) mayor Adrian Fenty are educating Americans about the importance of knowing their human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status. Along with PSA, men in the United States are advised to be tested for AIDS.

Men testing for PSA offer an ideal situation for AIDS screening. Although the PSA is a test presently controversial, it is still used throughout the world as a basic tool for prostate cancer detection. Many men do have the PSA test, particularly in developed countries.

A fact sheet that describes the PSA screening test for prostate cancer and explains the benefits and limitations of the test was published by the National Cancer Institute (NCC; USA; Bethesda MD, USA) in March 2009. It describes PSA as a substance produced by the prostate, which can be found in higher levels in the blood of men who have prostate cancer, benign prostatic hyperplasia, infection or inflammation of the prostate.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA; Rockville, MD, USA) approved the use of the PSA test along with a digital rectal exam to help detect prostate cancer in men age 50 and older. The FDA has also approved the PSA test to monitor patients with a history of prostate cancer to see if the cancer has recurred.

Related Links:
National Cancer Institute
U.S. Food and Drug Administration