Role of Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) in Patients with Benign Prostate Hyperplasia

摘要

Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) is an organ specific rather than cancer specific hormone. It is a single chain glycoprotein produced by epithelial cells of the prostate gland. Role of PSA in carcinoma of prostate is well defined but its role in other diseases of prostate is not very clear. Increased PSA levels are not essentially associated with prostate cancer, but can also be elevated in conditions other than cancerous lesions, such as prostate inflammation, bacterial prostatitis, Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (BPH) and Urinary Tract Infection (UTI). BPH is the most common benign tumours in men with prevalence ranging from 50% for men in their 50s to 90% for men in their 90s.Aim: To find the relation of serum PSA levels with age, Prostate Volume (PV) and PSA density in BPH patients.Materials and Methods: The present hospital-based, cross-sectional study was conducted on 162 BPH patients who consulted to the Urology Department of Rajindra Hospital, Patiala and were prescribed to undergo serum PSA evaluation. The serum PSA levels of these patients were estimated by the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Routine investigations included Complete Blood Count (CBC), serum urea, serum creatinine, Fasting Blood Glucose (FBG), serum PSA and ultrasonography of the kidneys, ureter, bladder and prostate. Correlations were evaluated using Pearson correlation coefficient. All the statistical graphs were plotted using Microsoft Excel 2009. The results p-value <0.001 were considered statistically significant.Results: No significant association (p=0.445) between serum PSA and age groups of BPH patients was observed. A significant correlation was observed between serum PSA and PV (r=0.59, p-value <0.001) and PSA density (r=0.56, p-value <0.001) in BPH patients.Conclusion: The present study indicates that there was no association between age specific reference range and serum PSA levels. And PV and PSA density should be considered while interpreting PSA level to improve the diagnostic parameters.