NURS 6512
WEEK 3: MAIN POST
The prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is defined as a tumor marker specific to the prostate
gland in males. This antigen can be measured in the blood to determine potential risk for prostate
cancer. PSA levels below 4 mg/dL are viewed as normal while levels above 10 mg/dL may be
indicative of prostate cancer (Dains, Baumann, & Scheibel, 2016). This test is not extremely
valid as approximately seventy percent of men with elevated PSA will not actually have a
diagnosis of prostate cancer (Biddle, Brasel, Underwood, & Orom, 2015). The PSA test has no
specificity as it does not identify high risk cancer that requires treatment versus low risk cancers
that would only require monitoring (Fenton, Weyrich, Durbin, Yu, Heejung, & Melnikow, 2018).
Authors Fenton, Weyrich, Durbin, Yu, Heejung, and Melnikow (2018) state in their article that
while PSA screening has a small potential of decreasing the mortality related to prostate cancer it
is also associated with high incidence of false-positive results. False-positive results can lead to
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