THURSDAY, Aug. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Results from the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test are more accurate among men who are being treated with the drug finasteride, according to a study published in the Aug. 16 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Ian M. Thompson, M.D., of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and colleagues analyzed data from 4,579 men in the finasteride group and 5,112 men in the placebo group of the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial.
The sample comprised men who during the seven-year time span of the trial had a prostate biopsy and concurrent PSA tests. The study examined the impact of finasteride on the sensitivity and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of the PSA test.
In the men in the placebo group, there were 1,111 detected cases of prostate cancer, of whom 240 had tumors that were grade seven or higher, and 55 had grade eight or higher tumors. There were 695 detected cases of prostate cancer among the finasteride group, of whom 264 had grade seven or higher and 81 had grade eight or higher tumors.
In terms of detecting all cancers, the results of the PSA test were more accurate in the finasteride group. "This bias would be expected to contribute to greater detection of all grades of prostate cancer with finasteride," the authors conclude.
The study was funded with grants from the National Cancer Institute.
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