PROSTATE CANCER

SelfCheck prostate health test, £14.99 (one test), Lloyds Pharmacy WHAT’S THE TEST? This finger-prick blood test looks for raised levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a protein produced in the prostate gland. Place the blood drop on the device, add a reactive chemical and, within ten minutes, you get a result — positive, meaning the level is raised, or negative. EXPERT VERDICT: ‘If men are worried about prostate cancer, they should seek professional medical advice,’ says Richard Hindley, a consultant urologist at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. ‘PSA is an imperfect marker — a raised PSA level could be down to a urinary infection, for example. The test could also give a “false” negative — in 10 per cent of prostate cancer cases, not much protein is produced at all, so the reading would be very low. ‘If you do this test and get a raised level, talk to your GP.’ 4/10