As you get older, your prostate gets larger, so it’s normal for PSA levels to gradually increase with age.

A raised PSA may be a sign of prostate cancer, but is can also be raised for other reasons, including an enlarged prostate, urinary tract or prostate infections, or recent vigorous exercise, prostate stimulation or recent ejaculation.

It can help detect prostate cancer before symptoms develop, and may pick up a fast-growing cancer at an early stage when treatment is more likely to be effective. 

Regular testing can be useful if you’re at higher risk, such as if you have a family history of prostate cancer. 

If you have already been diagnosed with prostate cancer, you can monitor your level with regular PSA tests.

A standalone PSA test cannot diagnose prostate cancer. If your level is raised, you may need to have further tests arranged by your GP. These may include further PSA blood tests, an MRI scan, or a biopsy. 

The PSA test can miss some prostate cancers in a small number of people.

The PSA test may detect slow-growing cancers that may never go on to cause harm. It may also show a raised level when no prostate cancer is present. This can cause worry, and you may decide to have treatment you may not have needed.

Further investigations undertaken as a result of the PSA test (such as biopsy), can result in side effects like pain, infections and bleeding.

Make sure you’re fully aware of the risks and benefits of doing this test. A good resource is the Prostate Cancer UK website.

Avoid heavy exercise, cycling or horse riding, prostate stimulation or ejaculating for 48 hours beforehand as this can impact the accuracy of the test. 

Do not take biotin supplements for two days before this test, discuss this with your doctor if it is prescribed.

If you have had an infection, wait 6 weeks after recovering before retesting PSA.

If you have had a urological procedure like a prostate biopsy, we would advise waiting for 6 weeks before testing your PSA levels. 

Fasting is not required for this test.

This test is not recommended for anyone under the age of 45, or under the age of 50 unless you have a strong family history of prostate cancer, or are of black ethnicity. 

This will depend on whether or not you are at an increased risk of prostate cancer, and will vary from person to person.

If you suspect your result has come back falsely elevated due to one of the reasons mentioned above, you can re-test after 4-6 weeks.  Otherwise, if you are low risk, you may only need to test every 1-3 years.

If you are actively managing prostate cancer, your doctor may recommend you test more often.  If you are unsure of how often to test, speak to your doctor.

The risk of prostate cancer is higher if you’re over 50, over 45 and of black ethnicity, or if you have a family history of prostate cancer. Certain lifestyle factors are also likely to increase your risk, such as being overweight and eating a diet high in processed meats.

Rather than focusing on reducing your PSA level, the more important thing to focus on is how you can lower your risk of prostate cancer.  Some things we are unable to control, such as our ethnicity, age, or family history.  However there are certain lifestyle factors, like maintaining a healthy weight, taking part in regular exercise and eating a healthy diet, that may help to reduce your risk. 

Certain medications can reduce your PSA levels. 5α-reductase inhibitors, such as Finasteride, or Dutasteride, can do this.

You will still have a prostate as a trans woman or non-binary person, even if you've had gender-affirming surgery, so there is still a risk of prostate cancer.

Whether or not you’ve had treatment that affects your testosterone levels can slightly alter your risk levels. You may have a slightly reduced risk of prostate cancer compared to cis-gendered men if you've had testosterone-lowering therapy or gender-affirming surgery.

It's important for the reporting doctor to take these factors into account when interpreting your results, so please mention anything relevant in your Thriva health profile.

Our doctors aim to upload your results report to your account dashboard within 48 hours from the lab receiving your sample. Tests containing Omega-3 & 6 have a 10-day turnaround time after posting your sample.