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Clinical applications of total PSA and free PSA tumor markers
Adina Elena Stanciu
Abstract: During the last 10 years the most widely used tumor marker for early detection of the prostate cancer was the prostate specific antigen (PSA). The concentration of total PSA in serum correlates with the volume of prostate cancer and changes in the levels reflect the disease process. It’s a very good relationship between serum total PSA, tumor size and stage of the disease. Total PSA is a sensitive serum marker for prostate cancer, but its specificity is limited by a high frequency of falsely elevated values in men with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Therefore, the determination of the proportion of the free PSA has become widely used to improve the can-cer specificity of total PSA, especially in men with PSA values in the “grey zone” (4-10 ng/ml). Free PSA values can help differentiate prostate cancer from BPH and reduce the number of unnecessary biopsies.
Keywords: total PSA,free PSA,prostate cancer,benign prostatic hyperplasia
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