title: Use of 2.6 ng/ml prostate specific antigen prompt for biopsy in men older than 60 years.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Since the United States Food and Drug Administration approved the prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test as an aid to early prostate cancer detection, using a cutoff of 4.0 ng/ml in 1994, this cutoff has been widely adopted to recommend prostate biopsy. There has been recent investigation into lowering the PSA prompt for biopsy, especially in men younger than 60 years. We determined how a lower cutoff would perform in men older than 60 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  From a prostate cancer screening study we studied 782 consecutive men who underwent prostate biopsy for PSA greater than 2.5 ng/ml or suspicious digital rectal examination. Biopsy results were evaluated as a function of patient age.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Clinical and pathological characteristics of cancers detected in the PSA range 2.6 to 4.0 ng/ml were similar regardless of patient age. Overall PSA between 2.6 and 4.0 ng/ml was associated with a cancer detection rate of 16.2% using a sextant biopsy technique. PSA velocity was similar in men with prostate cancer in all age groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  More than 15% of men with PSA 2.6 to 4.0 ng/ml who are 40 years or older have prostate cancer detected with sextant needle biopsies. PSA velocity, tumor stage, Gleason grade and tumor volume were similar in all age groups.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University Medical Faculty Foundation, 675 North Saint Clair Street, Chicago, IL 60611, USA. r-nadler@northwestern.edu
authors.forename: Robert B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Nadler
authors.forename: Stacy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Loeb
authors.forename: Kimberly A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Roehl
authors.forename: Jo Ann V
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Antenor
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Eggener
authors.forename: William J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Catalona
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D001706:Biopsy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology*; D047368:Tumor Burden
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen