"A team of researchers from Cleveland Clinic Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center Kaiser Permanente Northwest and other clinical sites have demonstrated that a new blood test known as IsoPSA detects prostate cancer more precisely than current tests in two crucial measures  distinguishing cancer from benign conditions and identifying patients with highrisk disease. By identifying molecular changes in the prostate specific antigen PSA protein the findings published online last month by European Urology suggest that once validated use of IsoPSA may substantially reduce the need for biopsy and may thus lower the likelihood of overdetection and overtreatment of nonlethal prostate cancer. The research team led by Cleveland Clinics Eric Klein M.D. conducted a multicenter prospective study of  men scheduled for prostate biopsy at five academic and community centers in the U.S. enrolled between August  and December . Despite criticism PSA has transformed the landscape of early detection screening and management of prostate cancer in the last few decades said Dr. Klein chair of Cleveland Clinics Glickman Urological  Kidney Institute. Unfortunately PSA is tissuespecific but not cancerspecific leading to overdiagnosis and overtreatment of biologically insignificant cancers which is widely recognized as a key limitation in its clinical utility. The study directly compared the clinical performance of a new test based on PSA called IsoPSA to PSA itself with patients already scheduled for prostate biopsy. IsoPSA proved significantly superior to PSA in two key indications discriminating between prostate cancer and benign conditions and identifying patients with highgrade disease. The former indication is potentially useful for using IsoPSA for screening by primary care physicians while the second is helpful for urologists in identifying patients who would benefit from curative intent therapy and other applications. The results show that if validated and adopted clinically IsoPSA could significantly reduce the rate of unnecessary biopsies by almost  percent. The methodology used in the IsoPSA assay represents a significant departure from conventional ways to define biomarkers in blood and may be applicable to improving other cancer biomarkers said Dr. Klein. Due to its inherent simplicity requiring only a blood draw and presenting information to the physician in familiar context using a single number  just like PSA itself  we are quite hopeful in IsoPSAs future utility after further validation studies said Mark Stovsky M.D. coauthor and staff member Cleveland Clinic Glickman Urological  Kidney Institute.  The IsoPSA test was developed by Cleveland Diagnostics a company cofounded by Cleveland Clinic in which it has financial interest. Dr. Klein has no personal financial interest in the company. Dr. Stovsky has a leadership position Chief Medical Officer and investment interest in Cleveland Diagnostics Inc.  About Cleveland Clinic Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Located in Cleveland Ohio it was founded in  by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation compassion and innovation. Cleveland Clinic has pioneered many medical breakthroughs including coronary artery bypass surgery and the first face transplant in the United States. U.S. News  World Report consistently names Cleveland Clinic as one of the nations best hospitals in its annual Americas Best Hospitals survey. Among Cleveland Clinics  employees are more than  fulltime salaried physicians and researchers and  nurses representing  medical specialties and subspecialties. Cleveland Clinics health system includes a acre main campus near downtown Cleveland  regional hospitals more than  northern Ohio outpatient locations  including  fullservice family health centers and three health and wellness centers  and locations in Weston Fla. Las Vegas Nev. Toronto Canada Abu Dhabi UAE and London England. In  there were . million outpatient visits  hospital admissions and  surgical cases throughout Cleveland Clinics health system. Patients came for treatment from every state and  countries. Visit us at clevelandclinic.org httpclevelandclinic.org. Follow us at twitter.comClevelandClinic httptwitter.comClevelandClinic. News and resources available at newsroom.clevelandclinic.org httpnewsroom.clevelandclinic.org."