Value of the serum prostate-specific antigen-alpha 1-antichymotrypsin complex and its density as a predictor for the extent of prostate cancer.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether serum levels of the prostate-specific antigen-alpha1-antichymotrypsin complex (PSA-ACT) and its density (ACTD) in patients scheduled to undergo radical prostatectomy for clinically localized prostate cancer can predict organ-confined vs extraprostatic disease.


METHODS
Serum samples were obtained from 62 patients with clinically localized prostate cancer before they underwent radical prostatectomy. PSA and PSA-ACT were measured using immunofluorometric techniques with different monoclonal antibodies against PSA and ACT, respectively. Furthermore, the PSA and PSA-ACT densities of the whole prostate (PSAD and ACTD, respectively) were calculated. The relationships of serum PSA, PSA-ACT, PSAD, ACTD and the pathological stage of the prostatectomy specimens were analysed.


RESULTS
The disease was organ-confined or extraprostatic in 30 and 32 men, respectively. In men with organ-confined cancer, the mean PSA and PSA-ACT levels were significantly lower than in those with extraprostatic disease. Furthermore, there were significantly higher mean PSAD and ACTD levels in men with extraprostatic than with organ-confined disease. There were also significant differences in PSA, PSA-ACT, PSAD and ACTD levels at each pathological stage, whereas there was no significant association between these variables and the Gleason score. Receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis for detecting organ-confined disease showed that PSA-ACT and ACTD had a larger area under the curve than PSA and PSAD, respectively, but these differences were not significant. Furthermore, PSA-ACT and ACTD provided significantly better sensitivity for detecting organ-confined disease than PSA and PSAD, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Measuring PSA-ACT and ACTD may improve the preoperative evaluation of patients scheduled to undergo radical prostatectomy, because these factors better differentiate extraprostatic from organ-confined disease than PSA and PSAD.
Hara
I
I
Department of Urology, Kobe University School of Medicine, Kobe, Japan.
Miyake
H
H
Hara
S
S
Yamanaka
N
N
Ono
Y
Y
Eto
H
H
Takechi
Y
Y
Arakawa
S
S
Kamidono
S
S
D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000379:methods; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012372:ROC Curve; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D000514:alpha 1-Antichymotrypsin / Q000097:blood*
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D000514:alpha 1-Antichymotrypsin; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen