Prostate-specific antigen, prostate volume and transition zone volume in Japanese patients with histologically proven benign prostatic hyperplasia

An Analytical Study of Prostate-Specific Antigen Dynamics

The purpose of this research is to carry out a quantitative study of prostate-specific antigen dynamics for patients with prostatic diseases, such as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and localized prostate cancer (LPC). The proposed PSA mathematical model was implemented using clinical data of 218 Japanese patients with histological proven BPH and 147 Japanese patients with LPC (stages T2a and T2b). For prostatic diseases (BPH and LPC) a nonlinear equation was obtained and solved in a close form to predict PSA progression with patients' age. The general solution describes PSA dynamics for patients with both diseases LPC and BPH. Particular solutions allow studying PSA dynamics for patients with BPH or LPC. Analytical solutions have been obtained and solved in a close form to develop nomograms for a better understanding of PSA dynamics in patients with BPH and LPC. This study may be useful to improve the diagnostic and prognosis of prostatic diseases.

Relationships between total/free prostate-specific antigen and prostate volume in Chinese men with biopsy-proven benign prostatic hyperplasia

OBJECTIVE

This study investigated relationships between total prostate-specific antigen (tPSA), free prostate-specific antigen (fPSA), and prostate volume (PV) in Chinese men with biopsy-proven BPH, and analyzed whether fPSA performed better than tPSA at estimating thresholds of PV.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

From 2003 to 2008, a total of 286 patients with a PSA less than 10 ng/ml and biopsy proven benign prostatic hyperplasia were included in this study. The relationships between age, PV, tPSA, and fPSA were analyzed using the Pearson correlation coefficient (r). Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed to evaluate and compare the ability of serum tPSA and fPSA to estimate thresholds of PV in men with biopsy-proven BPH.

RESULTS

Among relationships between tPSA, fPSA, age, and PV, the highest correlation was found between fPSA and PV (r = 0.456, P < 0.001); the correlation coefficient was much lower between tPSA and PV (r = 0.278, P < 0.001). The ROC curves revealed that the performance of fPSA at predicting threshold prostate sizes (30, 40, and 50 ml) showed areas under the curve (AUC) ranging from 0.72 to 0.75, denoting better discrimination of PV than that achieved by use of tPSA.

CONCLUSION

Although tPSA significantly correlated with PV in Chinese men with biopsy-proven BPH, the correlation between fPSA and PV was much stronger, and fPSA performed significantly better than tPSA at predicting thresholds of PV. fPSA may be used to estimate PV and could be a useful tool in making therapeutic decisions in Chinese men with BPH.