title: Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin as a screening test in prostate cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Prostate specific antigen (PSA) with digital rectal examination is used for diagnosis of prostate cancer (PCa), where definite diagnosis can only be made by prostate biopsy. Recently neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), a lipocalin family member glycoprotein, come into prominence as a cancer biomarker. This study is aimed to test serum NGAL as a diagnostic biomarker for PCa and discriminate PCa from benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).
  
  
  METHODS
  In this prospective study, 90 patients who underwent transrectal ultrasound-guided 12-core prostate biopsy between May 2015 and September 2015, were evaluated. Histopathologically diagnosed 45 PCa and 45 BPH patients were enrolled in this study. Serum NGAL and PSA levels of all participants were measured, then these data were evaluated by statistical programs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  When sensitivity fixed to 80% specificity of NGAL was better than PSA (49%, 31% respectively). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that NGAL alone or its combined use with PSA have better area under curve (AUC) results than PSA alone (0.662, 0.693, and 0.623 respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In conclusion NGAL gave promising results such as increased sensitivity and a better AUC values in order to distinguish PCa from BPH. NGAL showed a potential to be a non-invasive biomarker which may decrease the number of unnecessary biopsies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Mersin University School of Medicine, Mersin, Turkey.
authors.forename: Necati
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Muşlu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Dicle University School of Medicine, Diyarbakır, Turkey.
authors.forename: Bahadır
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ercan
authors.affiliation: Karaman State Hospital, Biochemistry Laboratory, Karaman, Turkey.
authors.forename: Serin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Akbayır
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Mersin University School of Medicine, Mersin, Turkey.
authors.forename: Şenay
authors.initials: Ş
authors.lastname: Balcı
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics Mersin University School of Medicine, Mersin, Turkey.
authors.forename: H Didem
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Ovla
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Mersin University School of Medicine, Mersin, Turkey.
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bozlu
keywords: Biomarker; NGAL; PSA; cancer; hypertrophy; prostate