New finding suggests prostate biopsy is not always...(and urinary incontinence. The study...),Health

The study, coauthored by Halcyon G. Skinner, Ph.D., M.P.H., of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, appears in the current issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

For the study, the researchers analyzed data from 1,273 men who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005-2006, and who did not report any current infection or inflammation of the prostate gland, prostate biopsy in the past month, or history of prostate cancer at the time of the survey.

After adjusting for age, race and obesity because PSA levels increase with age, are higher in black men, and are lower in overweight men the researchers found that the higher the level of parathyroid hormone in the blood, the higher the PSA level. In men whose parathyroid level was at the high end of normal, the PSA level was increased by 43 percent putting many in the range for the urologist to recommend a biopsy.

The finding is especially significant for black men, added Skinner. About 20 percent of black men have elevated parathyroid hormone levels, compared with about 10 percent of white men which means blacks have a greater chance of being recommended for biopsy and over treated, he said.

This finding "could help scientists refine the prostate cancer screening test to better differentiate between those men who need to be biopsied and those who might be spared the procedure," Schwartz said. "It's likely that there are a lot of men out there with elevated PSAs that may be due to elevated parathyroid hormone rather than prostate cancer."

Parathyroid hormone is made by cells of the parathyroid glands, four small glands embedded in the thyroid. Although parathyroid hormone primarily controls calcium levels in the blood, recent research has shown that parathyroid hormone can promote prostate cancer cell growth. The research by Schwartz and Skinner is the first to suggest that parathyroid
'/>"/>