New Blood Test Improves Prostate Cancer Screening – the Stockholm3 test

/ SupremeCmdr

On July 9 2021, results from the STHLM3MRI study were presented in The New England Journal of Medicine, indicating that over-diagnosis could be reduced by substituting traditional prostate biopsies with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and targeted biopsies. The new results, now published in The Lancet Oncology, show that the addition of the Stockholm3 test, which was developed by researchers at Karolinska Institutet, can be an important complement. It is a blood test that uses an algorithm to analyze a combination of protein markers, genetic markers and clinical data.

Karolinska Institutet. “New blood test improves prostate cancer screening.” ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/08/210813100313.htm (accessed August 14, 2021).

4 thoughts on “New Blood Test Improves Prostate Cancer Screening – the Stockholm3 test”

    • I have two probable answers for you, both strictly personal opinion. In life insurance we test for PSA in males over a certain age when exam and labs are used in the underwriting process. My answer then if and when life insurers implement the Stockholm test it will replace PSA and therefore be “paid for” by insurance companies as part of their acquisition costs.

      In health insurance my best guess is no, companies will not pay for the Stockholm test. This test and the associated MRI would likely be considered “medically unnecessary” so pay for these tests yourself. It’s sad that health insurance doesn’t cover/pay for more preventative procedures.

      End.

      Reply

      • That’s pretty much what I figured. And it’s so very sad. I know many men, my father included who were not diagnosed until the cancer was extremely advanced.

        And I also have four close friends who happend to have their cancer diagnosed early and they are all doing well. They range in age from late 40s to early 70s. And all are between five and 10 years post treatment. All had robotic prostatectomies

        My fifth friend locally was just diagnosed last year and unfortunately his is in the advanced stage. He had an orchiectomy and is now receiving radiation treatment.

      • Unfortunately the PSA test has low specificity. When you combine this with the tendency of males to delay health care needs…, well you probably know more about this then most people. I tend to specifically ask for certain tests during wellness visits. A good example is when I first asked to be tested for Vitamin D levels. I’ve had routine butt scopes since my 40’s (family history). I wonder what my doc will say when I ask her about the Stockholm 3 test. HA.

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