PSA and prostatic biopsies

Abstract

High PSA concentrations are often, but not always, a sign of prostatic carcinoma and it is therefore necessary to correlate the PSA values with the increase in prostate size. Increases in PSA up to 10 ng/ml in relation to large prostatic adenomas may be an expression of benign prostatic hyperplasia instead of prostatic carcinoma. In clinical practice it is important to correlate the PSA value with the digital rectal examination and the transrectal ultrasound: only when two of these three data are positive is there a high probability of prostatic carcinoma. The aim of this study was to compare PSA serum concentration values with the ultrasound-guided perineal prostatic biopsy in order to check the sensitivity and specificity of PSA, in particular when ambiguous values were obtained.