title: Effect of age, family history of prostate cancer, prostate enlargement and seasonality on PSA levels in a contemporary cohort of healthy Italian subjects.
abstract: We assessed the joint effect of age at enrollment, age at follow-up, family history of prostate cancer, prostate enlargement and seasonality on prostate-specific antigen (PSA) estimated through log-normal mixed-effects modeling in an Italian cohort of healthy, 45- to 65-year-old subjects over a 4-year period. The median ratio was used as the measure of effect. Median and mean baseline PSA were 0.78 (interquartile range: 0.41-1.50) and 1.27 (95% CI: 1.19-1.35) ng/mL, respectively. A similar median annual increase of 5.7% (95% CI: 4.8%-6.5%) was found for age at enrollment and age at follow-up. Individuals with moderate to severe prostate enlargement had a median PSA ratio of 1.040 (95% CI: 0.919-1.176) and 1.318 (95% CI: 1.128-1.539), respectively. Median ratios of 1.200 (95% CI: 0.026-1.404) and 1.300 (95% CI: 0.915-1.845), respectively, were computed for subjects with only one or more than one prostate-cancer-affected relatives. Regarding seasonality, the highest value was shown in summertime, the lowest in wintertime, and the resulting median ratio was 1.280 (95% CI: 1.117-1.468). Irrespective of age, baseline PSA was in most cases about 1.00 ng/mL with a yearly median variation of about 5% over a 4-year period. Indeed, prostate enlargement, prostate cancer family history and seasonality showed a remarkable impact on PSA measurement. This should be considered when counseling patients with a PSA history.
authors.affiliation: Urology Department, National Institute for Cancer Research, Genoa - Italy. angelo.naselli@libero.it
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Naselli
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Fontana
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Introini
authors.forename: Rossana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Andreatta
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Puppo
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011467:Prostate / Q000473:pathology*; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology*; D012621:Seasons
chemical_list: D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen