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TO HEALTH, MEDICAL, AND NATIONAL EDITORS:
Northwestern Medicine Debuts New Prostate Test, Dramatically Reducing
Need for Invasive Biopsies
CHICAGO, Feb. 26, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Northwestern
Medicine@ is the first health care provider in the country to offer a
new non-invasive blood test for prostate cancer that is nearly three
times more accurate than the current standard prostate-specific
antigen (PSA) blood test. Known as the Prostate Health Index (phi),
the new test's accuracy will effectively remove the need for many men
who test positive for elevated PSA levels to undergo a biopsy to
achieve a reliable diagnosis.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
prostate cancer is the most common type of non-skin cancer for men in
America and is a leading cause of cancer death among men of all races.
The most widely used screening test for prostate cancer is currently
the PSA test, which measures the blood's level of PSA, a protein that
is naturally produced by the prostate gland and is typically increased
when cancer is present. While the PSA test is simple and non-invasive,
its results can often indicate the possibility of prostate cancer when
none is present.
"The PSA test is based on the fact that men with higher levels of the
PSA protein are more likely to have prostate cancer," said William
Catalona, MD, urologist at Northwestern Medicine and director of the
Clinical Prostate Cancer Program at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive
Cancer Center of Northwestern University. "The problem is that higher
levels of PSA can also be caused by a benign enlargement or
inflammation of the prostate, leading to many false-positives for
cancer and ultimately unnecessarily invasive biopsies and an increased
potential for patient harm."
In 2012, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force called attention to
the heightened risk of unnecessary patient harm caused by
false-positives from PSA testing and released a recommendation calling
for "a better test and better treatment options" for prostate cancer
screening.
Because PSA testing isn't conclusive enough on its own, physicians
normally advise men with increased PSA levels in the range of
4-10ng/mL to undergo a prostate biopsy. However, the phi test helps
physicians distinguish prostate cancer from benign conditions by
utilizing three different PSA markers (PSA, FreePSA and p2PSA) as part
of a sophisticated algorithm to more reliably determine the
probability of cancer in patients with elevated PSA levels. Because of
the substantial increase in accuracy, results of a multi-center
clinical study that Catalona led found a 31 percent reduction in
unnecessary biopsies due to false-positives as a result of using the
phi test.
In addition to being much more accurate and reducing the need for
prostate biopsies, the new test also offers patients a screening
option that still only requires a simple blood test. The phi test will
become available to all healthcare providers within the first quarter
of 2014, and was developed by Beckman Coulter and evaluated in a
multi-center clinical research study lead by Catalona as the principal
investigator.
For more information about the phi test for prostate cancer or to
schedule an appointment, visit Northwestern Medicine's website or call
312-695-8146.
About Northwestern Medicine @ Northwestern Medicine@ is the
collaboration between Northwestern Memorial HealthCare and
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine around a strategic
vision to transform the future of healthcare. It encompasses the
research, teaching and patient care activities of the academic medical
center. Sharing a commitment to superior quality, academic excellence
and patient safety, the organizations within Northwestern Medicine
comprise more than 9,000 clinical and administrative staff, 3,100
medical and science faculty and 700 students. The entities involved in
Northwestern Medicine remain separate organizations. Northwestern
Medicine is a trademark of Northwestern Memorial HealthCare and is
used by Northwestern University.
About Northwestern Memorial Hospital Northwestern Memorial is one of
the country's premier academic medical center hospitals and is the
primary teaching hospital of the Northwestern University Feinberg
School of Medicine. Along with its Prentice Women's Hospital and Stone
Institute of Psychiatry, the hospital has 1,705 affiliated physicians
and 6,769 employees. Northwestern Memorial is recognized for
providing exemplary patient care and state-of-the art advancements in
the areas of cardiovascular care; women's health; oncology; neurology
and neurosurgery; solid organ and soft tissue transplants and
orthopaedics.
Northwestern Memorial has nursing Magnet Status, the nation's highest
recognition for patient care and nursing excellence. Northwestern
Memorial ranks 6th in the nation in the U.S. News & World Report
2013-14 Honor Roll of America's Best Hospitals. The hospital is
recognized in 14 of 16 clinical specialties rated by U.S. News and is
No. 1 in Illinois and Chicago in U.S. News' 2013-14 state and metro
rankings, respectively. For 14 years running, Northwestern Memorial
has been rated among the "100 Best Companies for Working Mothers"
guide by Working Mother magazine. The hospital is a recipient of the
prestigious National Quality Health Care Award and has been chosen by
Chicagoans as the Consumer Choice according to the National Research
Corporation's annual survey for 15 consecutive years.
SOURCE Northwestern Medicine
-0- 02/26/2014
/CONTACT: Bret Coons, 312-926-2955, bcoons@nmh.org
CO: Northwestern Medicine
ST: Illinois
IN: HEA MTC
SU: SVY
PRN
-- DC72558 --
0000 02/26/2014 16:30:00 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com
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