Prostate Specific Antigen and Prostate Volume; How They are Correlated in Patients with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

Abstract

Background: Human prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is a glycoprotein with approximately 7% (wt/wt)
carbohydrate. The PSA assay, along with other diagnostic parameters, is considered the most useful early
malignancy marker to confirm the diagnosis of prostate disease. Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and
prostatic cancer are the most common prostate diseases.
Objecive: The study was designed to assess the diagnostic sensitivity of PSA with different prostate volume
(PV) in Iraqi men aged (40 to 88) to define better predictions for early detection of prostatic cancer.
Method: The subjects involved in this study were 119 consecutive male aged (40-88) years with BPH.
Prostate volume (PV) (measured by transrectal ultrasound: TRUS) and PSA density (PD) data distribution
were evaluated. Variables of the clinical and laboratory display were expressed as mean ± SD. ANOVA were
used for the comparison of variables. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated for the whole study.
Result: Mean (± SD) age of the subjects included in this study was 63.23±11.12 years (p<0.01).The PSA
values in different age groups (40–54, 55–69, 70+), were: 5.71±4.47, 7.87±4.55 and 10.22±7.26 ng/mL
respectively. There was a significant increase between the second and third group (P < 0.05), while there was
a highly significant increase between the first and third age groups (P < 0.01). The correlation between PV
and tPSA was (+0.305) based on the Pearson’s correlation co efficient (P<0.01).
Conclusion: Increase in prostate volume is associated with increased serum PSA level. A PSA level depicts
approximate prostate volume and may have clinical potential in the management of BPH patients where
PSA and prostate volume were significantly correlated in BPH patients.