What does my PSA level mean?
Enter what you know, using published, peer-reviewed prostate cancer risk models. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.
Your PSA
The minimum needed for a result.
Earlier PSA results
Add past results to see your trend and how fast PSA is changing.
About you
Used by the risk models.
MRI and other tests
Add any you've had. Each one sharpens the result.
Prostate MRI
Your MRI report scores each area from 1 to 5. Use the highest.
To include your MRI in the risk estimate, also enter the prostate volume from the same report under Prostate size. The MRI risk model cannot use PI-RADS without it.
Prostate size
Free PSA
Prostate Health Index
4Kscore
IsoPSA
ExoDx Prostate
Other test
We compare your result with the cutoff printed on your lab report.
About the creatorDavid Josephson, MD, FACS
Urologic oncologist and robotic surgeon with over 20 years in academic and private practice. Dr. Josephson built mypsalevel so men can understand their PSA results with the same published tools urologists use, and arrive at their own urologist's office with better questions.
- Professor of Urology and Clinical Division Chief, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
- Co-Director, Institute for Minimally Invasive and Robotic Surgery at Tower Urology
- Medical Director, 90210 and Precision Ambulatory Surgery Centers (Cedars-Sinai affiliates)
- Fellowship-trained in urologic oncology and reconstructive urology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California
- Former Fellowship Program Director and Surgical Director of the Kidney Cancer Program, City of Hope National Cancer Center
- Peer-reviewed publications in prostate cancer imaging and robotic surgery, including nerve-sparing prostatectomy, focal therapy and salvage therapies
How each finding is calculated
PSA for your age
Upper reference limits by decade from Oesterling et al., JAMA 1993: 2.5 (40s), 3.5 (50s), 4.5 (60s), 6.5 (70s) ng/mL. No age-specific limit is defined under 40 or over 79.
Finasteride and dutasteride
These drugs lower PSA by about half. After 6 months of treatment, the drug labeling advises doubling the PSA value before comparing it with normal ranges.
PSA velocity and doubling time
Velocity is the slope of a straight line fitted through all dated results (ng/mL per year). Doubling time is ln 2 divided by the slope of log PSA. A velocity above 0.75 ng/mL/yr is the classic threshold (Carter et al., JAMA 1992). Results less than a year apart are unreliable.
PBCG biopsy risk model
Multinomial logistic model from Ankerst et al., Eur Urol 2018;74:197–203, built on 5,992 biopsies from 8 North American cohorts. The page uses the published equations in the article's Supplementary R-Code A.1, including the separate sub-models for unknown DRE, family history or biopsy history. Inputs: log2 PSA, age, African ancestry, prior negative biopsy, abnormal DRE, first-degree family history. High-grade means Gleason 7 or higher. The 10% high-grade threshold is the one the authors used in their decision analysis.
PLUM MRI model
Multinomial logistic model from Patel HD, Koehne EL, Shea SM, et al., "A prostate biopsy risk calculator based on MRI: development and comparison of the Prospective Loyola University Multiparametric MRI (PLUM) and Prostate Biopsy Collaborative Group (PBCG) risk calculators," BJU Int 2023;131, using the coefficients in the article's Supporting Information Appendix S1. Inputs: age, African ancestry, family history, prior negative biopsy, natural log of PSA density, MRI prostate volume and highest PI-RADS score (1–2 grouped together). Valid for age 40–90, PSA 0.3–84 ng/mL and volume 15–350 cc. In a 2024 external comparison of four MRI-based calculators, PLUM was among the best calibrated in North America.
Not yet calculated here
PCPT 2.0 and the Rotterdam calculators are linked rather than computed, because their published papers do not include the intercepts needed to reproduce them exactly.
PSA density
PSA divided by prostate volume. A density of 0.15 or higher is the traditional threshold for added concern; values below 0.10 are generally considered lower risk.
MRI (PI-RADS v2.1)
Patient-level detection rates of clinically significant cancer from the meta-analysis by Oerther et al., Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis 2022:
| PI-RADS | Detection | 95% CI |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6% | 0–20% |
| 2 | 9% | 5–13% |
| 3 | 16% | 7–27% |
| 4 | 59% | 39–78% |
| 5 | 85% | 73–94% |
Free PSA
Catalona et al., JAMA 1998 (men 50–75, PSA 4–10, normal DRE): a cutoff of 25% free PSA detected 95% of cancers. Risk ranged from about 8% at the highest values to 56% at the lowest.
PHI
Probability of cancer on biopsy for PSA 4–10, age 50 and over, non-suspicious DRE (ARUP Laboratories): 0–26.9: 9.8% · 27–35.9: 16.8% · 36–54.9: 33.3% · 55+: 50.1%.
4Kscore, IsoPSA, ExoDx
4Kscore: below 5% reassuring, 5–20% indeterminate, 20% and above concerning. IsoPSA: index 6.0 or below suggests lower risk of high-grade cancer (Cleveland Diagnostics). ExoDx: above 15.6 is associated with higher likelihood of high-grade cancer; indicated for men 50+ with PSA 2–10 before a first biopsy (mdxhealth).