Medical Journals

Extent of Prostatic Atrophy in Needle Biopsies and Serum Psa Levels: is There an Association?

Authors:
  • Billis Athanase
  • Meirelles Luciana R
  • Magna Luis A
  • Baracat Jamal
  • Prando Adilson
  • Ferreira Ubirajara

From: Department of Anatomic Pathology, State University of Campinas School of Medicine, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil. athanase@fcm.unicamp.br

Urology

  • Publish Date: May 2007
  • ISSN: 1527-9995
  • Volume: 69
  • Issue: 5
  • Pages: 927-30
  • Medium: Internet
  • Language: English
  • Citation (JAMA): Billis Athanase, Meirelles Luciana R, Magna Luis A, et al. Extent of Prostatic Atrophy in Needle Biopsies and Serum Psa Levels: is There an Association?. Urology May 2007;69:927-30

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Prostatic atrophy is one of the most frequent benign mimics of prostate adenocarcinoma. Regardless of the cause, we hypothesized that damaged epithelial cells in the atrophic acini could be a source of the elevation of serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA). The aim of this study was to find any possible association between the extent of prostatic atrophy in needle biopsies and serum PSA level. METHODS: The study was based on 131 needle prostatic biopsies corresponding to 107 patients. The only diagnosis in all biopsies was focal prostatic atrophy without the presence of cancer, high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia, or areas suspicious for cancer. The extent of atrophy was measured in two ways: the linear extent in millimeters and the percentage of linear extent showing atrophy for each biopsy. Spearman’s coefficient of rank correlation was used to evaluate the association of atrophy extent with total and free serum PSA levels. RESULTS: A positive and statistically significant correlation was found between the linear atrophy extent and the total serum PSA level (r = 0.25, P = <0.01) and free PSA level (r = 0.23, P = 0.01). A positive and statistically significant correlation was found between the percentage of the linear extent showing atrophy and the total serum PSA level (r = 0.23, P = 0.01) and free PSA level (r = 0.20, P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: A positive and significant association was found between the extent of atrophy and the total or free serum PSA elevation. The findings suggest that damaged epithelial cells in atrophic acini, regardless of cause, could be a source of serum PSA elevation.

Mesh Headings (Keywords): Adenocarcinoma, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Atrophy, Biopsy, Needle, Cohort Studies, Diagnosis, Differential, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Neoplasm Staging, Probability, Prostate-Specific Antigen, Prostatic Neoplasms, Prostatitis, Risk Factors, Sensitivity and Specificity, Severity of Illness Index


Check for Full Text / PubMed Unique Identifier (PMID): 17482936


This abstract is part of PubMed, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. PubMed includes more than 17 million citations from MEDLINE and other life science journals for biomedical articles. See Copyright and Disclaimers.

Linked medical terms appearing on this page are added by Healia to help readers find more information and are not part of the original PubMed document.

The data herein was last updated on July 8th, 2008 and may not reflect the most current and accurate data available from NLM.


Advertisements

About | Privacy Policy | Business Solutions | Advertise | Contact | Add Healia to your site

©2012. Healia / Meredith Corporation  

Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. All content on this Web site, including medical opinion and any other health-related information, is for informational purposes only and should not be used for a specific diagnosis or individual treatment plan for any situation. Use of this site and the information contained herein does not create a doctor-patient relationship. Always seek the direct advice of your doctor in connection with any questions or issues you may have regarding your own health or the health of others.