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Fingerpick PSA test?

User
Posted 20 Apr 2019 at 15:04

I stumbled on this the other day and thought it might be of interest on this forum. Early days yet, looks like it’s only in the US, but I guess that if it speeds things up then maybe it will make it over here eventually.


https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/911922


 


 

User
Posted 21 Apr 2019 at 09:39

I couldn't access that link (registration required), so I Googled it - weirdly, most of the results were from South Africa, where they seem to have been offering it for at least three years.

A Google Shopping search for 'PSA home testing' finds many for just above a tenner, but - possibly significantly - the only one that claims "same results as the GP" costs £69. But having said that, the cheaper ones show 4/5 stars, if you can trust that!

User
Posted 21 Apr 2019 at 10:28

Would be interesting to get one, and do a test same day you get a real PSA test done, and compare the results.


I do that with my own blood glucose testing, if I happen to be getting a blood test which includes blood glucose.

Edited by member 21 Apr 2019 at 10:31  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 21 Apr 2019 at 11:08
Don’t know how I was let in before. Story is about the particular test being the “first of its kind approved by the FDA”. But it now wants me to register to read it too. There were some stats about correlation with lab tests, obviously it wasn’t 100%, but I don’t remember the figures. Didn’t imagine I was going to need to as I had the link, or so I thought. Wish i’d taken a screen shot now. It did say it was only approved when combined with a DRE. So it definitely isn’t intended to be a home test! It was described as an “in office”, as in “at the GP surgery” test, the main benefit I guess being the relative immediacy instead of waiting for a lab test.
User
Posted 21 Apr 2019 at 11:25

Ok, managed to find a way back in. It does say “this site is intended for healthcare professionals” in tiny writing at the top of the screen (I’m not any such thing). Here’s some quotes:


The efficacy of the test was demonstrated in a clinical trial at 10 urology practices in the US, among 434 men (median age 65 years) who were scheduled to receive a prostate biopsy.”


In the cohort, the median total PSA was 5.9 ng/mL, and the eventual prevalence of prostate cancer was 53.7%.


With a total PSA cut-off value of 4 ng/mL, which is considered the lower limit of a suspicious amount, the sensitivity of the Sangia Total PSA Test was 85.4% and the specificity, 30.3%. When combined with DRE, the test's sensitivity increased to 91%.


Additionally, the unique point-of-service test had a 95% correlation with a previously FDA-approved, lab-based test (Elecsys Total PSA Immunoassay, Roche Diagnostics) in a set of blood samples from 122 men.


The device measures total PSA values between 0.08 ng/mL and 15 ng/mL. For values above or below these two points, the device simply indicates either <0.08 ng/mL or >15 ng/mL.”


 


 

User
Posted 21 Apr 2019 at 11:32
Also: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41585-019-0179-1
User
Posted 21 Apr 2019 at 12:09
As I have said here before, my GP gave me a stack of PSA blood test forms, maybe to make up for the seven years when I was not tested...........

I take one to the local chemist, they take a sample, and my PSA reading appears on my Emis Patient Access app next morning.

This is not the case countrywide apparently. Why not?

I am due one next month🤞. I am on a three-monthly testing cycle now. Might extend it to four months after that one. Basically, I can have a PSA test whenever I want.

Cheers, John.
User
Posted 22 Apr 2019 at 10:50

On the link you offered I got a paywall - but reached the article here:


Point-of-care PSA testing: an evaluation of PSAwatch


There's also a PDF here:


Point-of-care PSA testing: an evaluation of PSAwatch - PDF


About 90% correlation isn't bad - but only while things are stable!


Sadly, the article gives no hint of cost. I imagine that had the device been widely available from launch (?2007), the price by now would be quite manageable, as demand would probably have been high. But it seems to have been a fairly well kept secret!


PSAWatch has a Facebook page, which seems to have been set up in 2012, then abandoned in 2014.


Bollinge:


After reading about your experience with Emis, I signed up. No blood results, and even the messaging service is unavailable, so I can't ask! I suspect it has to do with regional NHS computer systems, not to mention how recently the GP Surgery updated their Sinclair ZX81s. But thanks for the tip, anyway!


 

Edited by member 22 Apr 2019 at 11:09  | Reason: added bits!

User
Posted 24 Apr 2019 at 08:09

Does anyone know where you can get a walk-in PSA test done?


I wouldn't mind getting an interim one before my next NHS one is due, in case it shows I can bring my RT forward.


I looked at the amazon kits, but they mostly just give a pass/fail based on below/above 4.

User
Posted 24 Apr 2019 at 08:28
Try phoning the private hospitals in your area: many of them seem to have 'well man' clinics where they do it for the worried well, but would probably not be too fussy!
 
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