Scientists have been making huge and significant steps to help improve the difficult conditions of PSA tests for prostate cancer. The scientists have mixed some genetic information that they thought would help in telling who needs biopsy among men.

Blood tests have been widely used to measure PSA which is a protein that serves as an occasional signal about the condition of the prostate. It has been said that the levels can be high, however, doctors have been ordering for a biopsy check for tumors whenever the level of PSA hits a certain level.

Today, scientists have determined a set of genetic variants that may show that those cut offs may be a little twisted for a number of men. This is mainly because their normal level of PSA is higher in nature than the average level by which PSA testing was based on.

According to Dr. Kari Stefansson, the chief executive officer of decode Genetics in Iceland, there will be a lot of patients who would undergo biopsy but don’t actually need it to be done. Dr. Stefansson and his team shared the findings last Wednesday in the journal Science Translational Medicine. He is planning to come up with a test for the genetic markers maybe some time next year. Stefansson is hoping that doctors could see the information as something useful to modifying how they interpret and react to the results of their patient’s PSA test.

Dr. Otis Brawley, the chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society said that there is actually a basis on the genetic approach but doesn’t think that the test is all set to do what it is supposed to do. This means that there should be more research and confirming findings to prove the efficiency of the said approach. In addition, he said, “it's important, but it's a small step in the long road ahead,” when regarding prostate detection.

According to Brawley, the accuracy of PSA test is actually just a one-part solution to the bigger problem. He further noted that screening frequently detects small prostate tumors that can be slow growing not to be considered as deadly. However, Brawley said that there is still no perfect way to tell beforehand which patient aggressive therapy. He said, “what we desperately need is some type of test ... that tells us, 'This is the kind of prostate cancer that kills' versus the kind of cancer that doesn't kill."