title: Biological half-life of prostate-specific antigen after radical prostatectomy.
abstract: The disappearance pattern of prostate-specific antigen from serum after a standard radical prostatectomy was studied in eight patients with cancer confined to the prostate. The results were used to plot an elimination curve and calculate the best fit. A biphasic pattern was found with an average biological half-life of 1.63 hours in the alpha-phase, and 4.63 days in the beta-phase. Based on these results it is concluded that determination of prostate-specific antigen concentrations less than one month after a standard radical prostato-vesiculectomy has no value for the detection or exclusion of residual malignant processes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Chemistry, Academical Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: van Straalen
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Bossens
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: de Reijke
authors.forename: G T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Sanders
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D006207:Half-Life; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D011468:Prostatectomy; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000601:surgery
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen