A guideline to clinical utility of prostate specific antigen.
Prostate cancer has emerged as the most common tumor effecting adult men. In the USA, 300,000 cases each year, and some 40,000 deaths per year are expected from this disease. Once prostate cancer gets to an advanced stage, one cannot prevent its progression and cure is no longer possible. Thus, to effect the course of prostate cancer and to diminish the death rate from this disease, it should be detected at its early stages. The prostate specific antigen serum test is the best tumor marker present but it is certainly not perfect. The proper utility of prostate specific antigen testing, and analysis of prostate specific antigen parameters, will allow us to detect prostate cancer at earlier stages, and prevent progression and death rates from this disease. In this manuscript, we review the current status of prostate specific antigen testing for early detection and staging of prostate cancer, as well as its role for monitoring response to various forms of therapy.
Farhat
W A
WA
Department of Surgery, Division of Urology and Prostate Center, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon.
Habbal
A A
AA
Khauli
R B
RB
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000465:Algorithms; D003663:Decision Trees; D016903:Drug Monitoring / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D018579:Patient Selection; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D011468:Prostatectomy; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen