Premium
The Distribution of Serum Prostate‐Specific Antigen Levels Among American Men: Implications for Prostate Cancer Prevalence and Screening
Author(s) -
Porter Michael P.,
Stanford Janet L.,
Lange Paul H.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
the prostate
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.295
H-Index - 123
eISSN - 1097-0045
pISSN - 0270-4137
DOI - 10.1002/pros.20417
Subject(s) - medicine , prostate cancer , prostate specific antigen , prostate , prostate biopsy , national health and nutrition examination survey , biopsy , cancer , gynecology , rectal examination , prostate cancer screening , urology , oncology , population , environmental health
BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to describe the distribution of serum prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) among American men and to estimate the number of prevalent cases of biopsy detectable prostate cancer among men with normal serum PSA. METHODS We analyzed data of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001–2002 (NHANES 2001–2002) data and combined these results with published data from the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT). RESULTS Most men in the US have a serum PSA ≤4.0 ng/ml, and mean and median serum PSA values rise steadily with age. There are an estimated 1,607,585 (95% CI 1,370,848–1,844,322) prevalent cases of biopsy detectable prostate cancer in men aged 62–85 years with a serum PSA ≤4 ng/ml. Among men aged 62–75 years, there are an estimated 1,252,143 (95% CI 1,054,677–1,449,609) prevalent cases, including an estimated 195,499 (95% CI 140,234–250,764) high‐grade tumors. CONCLUSION A large number of prevalent cases of biopsy detectable prostate cancer exist in American men with a normal PSA. Prostate 66: 1044–1051, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.