title: Production of serum-free and total prostate-specific antigen due to prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  High serum total prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels have proven to be predictive of concurrent cancer but the role of prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) in the production of total (t) and free (f) PSA is still the subject of research. In this study we wanted to discover whether variations in serum fPSA and tPSA levels are caused by PIN.
  
  
  METHODS
  We reviewed the medical records of 87 patients: in 32 of them the diagnosis of isolated PIN was made from surgical samples (simple prostatectomy, n = 19; radical cystectomy, n = 13); in 30 patients a diagnosis of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) without PIN or prostatic carcinoma was made after simple prostatectomy (n = 20) or radical cystectomy (n = 10); and in 25 patients a clinically significant prostatic cancer was diagnosed and these patients underwent radical prostatectomy. All patients underwent a standard preoperative evaluation, including serum fPSA and tPSA determinations and PSA density.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The frequency of isolated PIN in simple prostatectomy specimens was 6.3%. The mean f/t PSA ratios were 17.66% in the 32 patients with PIN, 19.2% in the 8 patients with low-grade PIN, 17.6% in the 24 patients with high-grade PIN, 24.2% in patients with BPH and 13% in patients who underwent radical prostatectomy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We believe that to make a definitive diagnosis of isolated PIN without carcinoma, study of the whole prostate gland is necessary, in order to definitively exclude the presence of concurrent neoplastic foci. Our data show that PIN does not contribute to tPSA levels and density; however, it may be responsible for a slight reduction in the f/t PSA ratio, with a significant reduction in cases with high-grade PIN (17.6%) compared to those with BPH (24.2%).
authors.affiliation: Institute of Urology, University of Ancona Medical School, Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Minardi
authors.forename: Andrea B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Galosi
authors.forename: Lucio
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dell'Atti
authors.forename: Herbert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hanitzsch
authors.forename: Polito
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mario
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Muzzonigro
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011336:Probability; D011379:Prognosis; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D011468:Prostatectomy; D011470:Prostatic Hyperplasia / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D019048:Prostatic Intraepithelial Neoplasia / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D012016:Reference Values; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen