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A brief review of ultrasensitive prostate-specific antigen assays for the evaluation of patients after radical prostatectomy

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Summary

The development of immunoassays for prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and their clinical utility are summarized. Because of the complexity of the PSA molecule and anti-PSA antibodies, there is currently no standard in PSA measurement [1, 2]. Evaluating various immunoassays requires the knowledge of the lower limit of detection as well as the biological and clinical thresholds of a given assay [1]. There have been recent reports demonstrating earlier detection of residual prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy by ultrasensitive assays for PSA [3, 4]. Because of the recent evidence for non-prostatic sources of PSA such as the male urethra [5–7], the possibility of their contaminating PSA levels must be evaluated when more sensitive assays for PSA are under consideration.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Urology, RL-10, University of Washington, 1959 NE Pacific Street, 98195, Seattle, WA, USA

    T. K. Takayama, R. L. Vessella & P. H. Lange

Authors
  1. T. K. Takayama
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  2. R. L. Vessella
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  3. P. H. Lange
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Additional information

This work was funded in part by a grant from the American Foundation of Urologic Disease, by the American Cancer Society, by the Richard M. Lucas Cancer Foundation, and by the Veterans Administration.

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Takayama, T.K., Vessella, R.L. & Lange, P.H. A brief review of ultrasensitive prostate-specific antigen assays for the evaluation of patients after radical prostatectomy. World J Urol 11, 192–195 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00185067

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00185067

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