BackTable Urology Ep. 269 Beyond PSA: The Science Driving Smarter Blood Tests with Dr. Jason Hafron
Oct 28, 2025
Dr. Jason Hafron, a urologic oncologist and chief medical officer at Solaris Health, dives into the shifting landscape of prostate cancer screening. He discusses the limitations of traditional PSA tests and introduces innovative blood-based biomarkers like IsoPSA and 4Kscore. These advancements promise to enhance diagnosis and minimize unnecessary biopsies. Dr. Hafron also explores the potential of artificial intelligence to refine risk assessments and personalize patient management, showcasing a future where precision in prostate cancer detection is within reach.
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PSA Is Limited And Non‑Specific
- PSA is prostate-specific but not cancer-specific and can be elevated for BPH or prostatitis.
- Some aggressive tumors produce little PSA or fail to release it into the bloodstream, causing false negatives.
Always Repeat PSA Before Next Steps
- Repeat an abnormal PSA before acting and then use either MRI or a biomarker per guidelines.
- Avoid reflex biopsies based on a single PSA result to reduce unnecessary procedures.
MRI Quality Varies; Biomarkers Level Field
- Prostate MRI performance varies widely across centers and readers, unlike biomarkers.
- Biomarkers can level the playing field because lab-based tests avoid local radiology variability.