To save one life, so many men have to be treated that the average cost of diagnosis and treatment is over $5 million per patient, according to the foundation, created by business magnate Michael Milken after his own successful battle with the disease. BACKGROUND: Ionized calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) compete as essential messengers to regulate cell proliferation and inflammation. Breast cancer is the second most common cancer killer of women, after lung cancer. Since 1986, when tests for measuring PSA levels in serum were introduced into clinical practice, early diagnosis and management of prostate cancer has been revolutionized, and much has been learned about the strengths and weaknesses of these assays. However, if you are one of the many men who’s PSA level is slightly to moderately elevated (above 1.0 and less that 4.0 ng/ml), not to worry, it doesn’t necessarily mean cancer!There are many things that can contribute to an elevated PSA level beside having cancer. There are many things that can contribute to an elevated PSA level beside having cancer. The level of PSA, a protein shed into the blood by the prostate gland, rises when cancer develops, but also with benign conditions such as an enlarged prostate - and aging. Think of PSA as a barometer of overall prostate health. Currently, biopsied tumor tissue is analyzed in a lab, but doctors can't say with confidence which cancers need not be treated. Depending on the testing method used PSA reading on the same blood sample can be different! But like many physicians, he sees a middle road, one that either may lead to the test - or not. But the alternative to PSA-based early detection is "clinical detection" - diagnosing the cancer when it can be felt by a doctor, or causes symptoms such as trouble urinating, blood in the urine or semen, pelvic discomfort, or bone pain.

Fox Chase's Engstrom, whose cancer was diagnosed 15 years ago because of an elevated PSA level, admits to "built-in biases" about the test.

On the flip side of the coin, an enlarged prostate, cancerous or not, is a common cause of constipation. A major national study in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association concludes that selenium and vitamin E supplements do not ward off the disease - and vitamin E alone can somehow promote it. The implications of the finding are "substantial," given that more than half of Americans age 60 and up take vitamin E supplements, the researchers concluded. What is needed, he said, is a way to distinguish life-threatening tumors from relatively harmless ones. Take time to investigate these potential causes for your elevated PSA as it may not be cancer at all. Thank you.A Dozen Things That Can Raise Your PSA That Aren’t CancerHEALTHY SOLUTIONS 4 LIVING, INC. is a Veteran owned business. This month was Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. Now, studies show, fewer than 3 percent of men have metastases when diagnosed. Science-based coverage sent each weeknight to your inbox — all facts, no panic. For health-conscious men of a certain age, what could be more prudent than taking vitamins and getting screened for prostate cancer? It involves frequent PSA tests, ultrasound scans, and biopsies to watch for worrisome changes - a strategy that others say is not much different from old-fashioned "watchful waiting." Leonard Gomella is urology chair at Kimmel Cancer Center. Using the same laboratory every time ensures consistency. "But the decision needs to be individualized." Beginning in 2001, more than 35,000 healthy men over age 50 were randomly assigned to take selenium, vitamin E, both supplements, or placebo. Impotence, urinary incontinence, and, less often, bowel dysfunction affect "at least 200 to 300 of 1,000 men treated," the task force said. (Ed Hille / Staff Photographer)Contact staff writer Marie McCullough at 215-854-2720 or Circumstantial evidence suggested the supplements would help with prostate cancer. Experts continue to debate where to set the PSA cutoff, and how much to rely on abrupt changes in PSA levels rather than absolute numbers. Science-based coverage sent each weeknight to your inbox — all facts, no panic.

If levels start to rise then it’s time to take action as something is going awry.There you have it, a dozen things that can raise PSA levels that’s not cancer.

While the task force didn't explicitly say that men would be better off being diagnosed at advanced stages, that's how doctors and patients alike read between the lines. That's the disillusioning take-home message from back-to-back reports on prostate cancer, the malignancy diagnosed in one out of every six American men. Qi Dai, M.D., Ph.D., Jay Fowke, Ph.D., and colleagues investigated the importance of serum magnesium and calcium levels on prostate cancer risk in the Nashville Men’s Health Study. Whether such a test is on the horizon depends on whom you ask. An enlarged prostate can put pressure on the rectum and make defecating difficult.

The PSA test used to detect prostate cancer can be affected by constipation, which is something you clearly don’t need.