Prostate cancer with elevated free prostate-specific antigen density:A case report

BACKGROUND Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer among men worldwide,and prostate-specific antigen(PSA)is often used in clinical practice to screen for prostate cancer.Normal total PSA(tPSA)level initially excludes prostate cancer.Here,we report a case of prostate cancer with elevated free PSA density(fPSAD).CASE SUMMARY A patient diagnosed with benign prostatic hyperplasia underwent prostatectomy,and the postoperative pathological results showed acinar adenocarcinoma of the prostate.The patient is currently undergoing endocrine chemotherapy.CONCLUSION We provide a clinical reference for diagnosis and treatment of patients with normal tPSA but elevated fPSAD.

Total and free prostate-specific antigen indexes in prostate cancer screening:value and limitation for Japanese populations

Aim:To assess the efficacy and limitation of free/total prostate-specific antigen ratio(f/tPSA)at a single institution in Japan,focusing on the avoidance of pointless prostate biopsies.Methods:In total,631 men between 44 and 93 years old(mean 69.8 years)with elevated PSA underwent power-Doppler ultrasoundgraphy-guided transrectal 10-core prostate biopsies at Niigata Cancer Center Hospital,and their histological features were investigated with total PSA (tPSA)and f/tPSA.Results:PCa was detected in 126 of 134 patients(94.3%)with tPSA of 26 ng/mL or higher.The detection rate was 59.4% for tPSA of 21-25 ng/mL,followed by 39.2% for 16-20 ng/mL,30.0% for 11-15 ng/mL, 20.0% for 4.1-10 ng/mL and 7.6% for≤4.0 ng/mL,f/tPSA of the PCa group was significantly lower than that of non-malignamt disorders in any tPSA ranges(mean 0.122 vs.0.160,P<0.001).Receiver-operating characteristics analyses showed that f/tPSA(AUC:0.664)performed more valuably than tPSA(AUC:0.559)in patients with tPSA between 3.0-10 ng/mL(P<0.01).Although f/tPSA of 0.250 for the cut-off value might miss 1.8% PCa patients,it potentially spares 9.2% of unnecessary biopsies.Conclusion:f/tPSA is more valuable compared with tPSA alone for the prediction of the occurrence of PCa.We recommend 0.250 as the cut-off value for f/tPSA in PCa screening for Asian men having so-called grey-zone tPSA.(Asian J Androl 2006 Jul;8:429-434)

Prostate cancer volume associates with preoperative plasma levels of testosterone that independently predicts high grade tumours which show low densities(quotient testosterone/tumour volume)

Objective:To investigate potential associations of preoperative total testosterone(TT)with tumor volume(TV)and grade of prostate cancer(PCa).Methods:Patients who were under medications impacting on the hypothalamic-pituitaryadrenal-testis-prostate axis were excluded.TT was measured preoperatively at least 1 month after biopsies and TV was calculated on the removed prostate specimen.Other continuous variables included total prostate specific antigen(PSA),percentage of positive cores(Pt)and weight(W)of the removed prostate.Patients were categorized according to the pathologic Gleason score(pGS)in 3 groups(pGS 6,7 and>7).Invasion of the seminal vesicles was coded as seminal vesicle invasion(SVI).Results:The median levels of TT were significantly and increasingly higher from pGS 6(14.7 nmol/L)to pGS 7(15.0 nmol/L)and pGS>7(18.8 nmol/L).The median values of TV were also detected significantly and increasingly higher from pGS 6(5.6 mL)to pGS 7(8.1 mL)and pGS>7(14.8 mL).The median preoperative levels of PSA were also increasing from pGS 6(5.9 μg/L)to pGS 7(6.2 μg/L)and pGS>7(7.7 μg/L).There was a significant and positive correlation of TV to PSA,TT and Pt.Multiple linear regression analysis showed that TV was significantly and independently predicted by TT,PSA and Pt.High grade PCa(pGS>7)independently associated with TV,TT,Pt and SVI.The median density values of TT relative to TV(quotient TT/TV)significantly decreased from pGS 6(2.6 nmol/L/mL)to pGS 7(1.9 nmol/L/mL)and pGS>7(1.4 nmol/L/mL).The median density values of PSA relative to TV(quotient PSA/TV)also significantly decreased from pGS(1.1 μg/L/mL)to pGS 7(0.7 μg/L/mL)and pGS>7(0.6 μg/L/mL).Conclusion:The investigation shows that TT relates to volume and grade of PCa;moreover,the density of TT relative to TV inversely associates with rate of increase of cancer that depends on the grade of the tumour.

Clinical application of free/total PSA ratio in the diagnosis of prostate cancer in men over 50 years of age with total PSA levels of 2.0-25.0 ng ml^(−1) in Western China

The goal of this study was to investigate the clinical application of free/total prostate-specific antigen(F/T PSA)ratio,considering the new broad serum total PSA(T-PSA)“gray zone”of 2.0–25.0 ng ml^(−1)in differential diagnosis of prostate cancer(PCa)and benign prostate diseases(BPD)in men over 50 years in Western China.A total of 1655 patients were included,528 with PCa and 1127 with BPD.Serum T-PSA,free PSA(F-PSA),and F/T PSA ratio were analyzed.Receiver operating characteristic curves were used to assess the efficiency of PSA and F/T PSA ratio.There were 47.4%of cancer patients with T-PSA of 2.0–25.0 ng ml^(−1).When T-PSA was 2.0–4.0 ng ml^(−1),4.0–10.0 ng ml^(−1),and 10.0–25.0 ng ml^(−1),the area under the curve(AUC)of F/T PSA ratio was 0.749,0.769,and 0.761,respectively.The best AUC of F/T PSA ratio was 0.811 when T-PSA was 2.0–25.0 ng ml^(−1),with a specificity of 0.732,a sensitivity of 0.788,and an optimal cutoff value of 15.5%.The AUC of F/T PSA ratio in different age groups(50–59 years,60–69 years,70–79 years,and≥80 years)was 0.767,0.806,0.815,and 0.833,respectively,and the best sensitivity(0.857)and specificity(0.802)were observed in patients over 80 years.The T-PSA trend was in accordance with the Gleason score,tumor node metastasis(TNM)stage,and American Joint Committee on Cancer prognosis group.Therefore,the F/T PSA ratio can facilitate the differential diagnosis of PCa and BPD in the broad T-PSA“gray zone”.Serum T-PSA can be a Gleason score and prognostic indicator.