[Serum prostate specific antigen for the early detection of prostate cancer in outpatients of internal medicine].

Screening was performed on 102 patients aged 60 years or older who visited the Outpatient Department of Internal Medicine in Tane General Hospital between June 1994 and May 1995. Of those screened, 36 patients (35.3%) had elevated prostate specific antigen (PSA) values, and 20 of them visited the Urological Department, and underwent digital rectal examination (DRE) and transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS) for further screening. Of the 16 patients who underwent ultrasound guided biopsies of the prostate, 7 patients were found to have prostate cancer. Therefore, the cancer detection rate was 6.9%, which was about 4 times higher than that of mass-screening examinations previously reported in the Japanese literature. These findings suggested that the screening using PSA in outpatients of Internal Medicine may be useful for the early detection of prostate cancer.