Studies looking at prostate-specific antigen (PSA) kinetics have emerged in the last two decades with the intent to better discern which PSAs are actually associated with prostate cancer and, more importantly, aggressive disease. Carter et al from Johns Hopkins were the first to assess PSA velocity (PSAV) as a potential risk factor for development of prostate cancer using the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA). The authors looked at the serum levels of PSA taken 7-25 years before the development of "prostate disease" (benign prostatic hyperplasia [BPH] or prostate cancer) and concluded that a rate of change of 0.75 mug/L/y was signifi- cantly greater in subjects with prostate cancer compared with control subjects and subjects with BPH, and therefore "may be a sensitive and specific early clinical marker for the development of prostate cancer."
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