Diagnostic significance of prostate specific antigen and the development of a mass screening system for prostate cancer.

PURPOSE: The significance of prostate specific antigen (PSA) in the mass screening for prostate cancer was investigated.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

A total of 4,375 PSA, digital rectal and transrectal ultrasonographic examinations was performed on 3,526 subjects.

RESULTS

Among the 3 modalities, PSA had the highest sensitivity (80.4%) and positive predictive value (45.1%). We established age-specific reference PSA ranges for normal Japanese men, and demonstrated the significance of PSA density and PSA velocity.

CONCLUSIONS

The significance of PSA as a prostate cancer screening modality should be evaluated across multiple age ranges and in combination with previous PSA data and/or prostate volume.