| "A new prostate cancer test that relies on measuring levels of a blood protein found cancer 94 percent of the time, a significant improvement over the current PSA test, according to a study released Wednesday. " "Each year, about 1.6 million men undergo biopsies because they test positive on a PSA test -- but only about 230,000 of them have cancer. " "The new test for the blood protein, EPCA-2, not only detects prostate cancer, but also can determine if it has spread to other parts of the body, according to the study published in the journal Urology. " ""It could allow us to help patients decide if they need a biopsy or if it's tame or has the ability to invade outside the prostate," said Robert Getzenberg, director of research at James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute at Johns Hopkins University and a co-author of the study. " "The test must undergo large-scale clinical trials and review by the Food and Drug Administration, but it could be available early next year, said Getzenberg, who is a consultant to Onconome Inc., a Seattle biomedical company that is developing the test. " "Each year, about 230,000 new cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed and about 27,000 men die, according to the American Cancer Society. " "Digital rectal examination and the test for the prostate-specific antigen (PSA), which was approved in 1994, have been the primary methods of detecting the cancer. " "But questions about the accuracy of the PSA test have been building over the years; it has a high level of false positives and misses about 15 percent of prostate cancers. " "Many
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