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Excretion of three major prostatic secretory proteins in the urine of normal men and patients with benign prostatic hypertrophy or prostate cancer
Author(s) -
Tremblay Jacques,
Frenette Gilles,
Tremblay Roland R.,
Dupont André,
Thabet Michel,
Dubé Jean Y.
Publication year - 1987
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.2990100306
Subject(s) - prostatic acid phosphatase , medicine , urine , prostate , diethylstilbestrol , endocrinology , muscle hypertrophy , cancer , prostate cancer , excretion , prostate specific antigen , urinary system , prostatic diseases , urology , hormone
We have studied the mode of excretion of three prostatic secretory proteins, namely acid phosphatase (PAP), prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) and β‐inhibin, in the urine of normal adult men, and we have determined the urinary levels of these proteins in men with benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) or adenocarcinoma. The output of the three proteins was highly variable during the day. In order to minimize these variations, 24‐hour urine samples were collected thereafter. Our study showed that PAP concentrations in 50% of men with or without symptomatic BPH were similar to those of normal young men. In the remaining 50%, PAP was undetectable. In contrast, average PSA and β‐inhibin concentrations were higher in patients with BPH than in young men (p < 0.05). The three markers were decreased or nondetectable in about half of the patients with untreated prostatic cancer. This phenomenon was even more pronounced in patients receiving hormonal treatment (castration or diethylstilbestrol). However, some of these patients still excreted normal amounts of PAP, PSA, and β‐inhibin. Urinary and serum PAP levels showed no correlation. These results indicate that urinary prostatic markers provide an easy means to study the behavior of the primary prostatic tumor. This information may be of potential value since it is not obtained with serum markers which originate mostly from metastatic cells.