Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) value change after antibacterial therapy of prostate inflammation, as a diagnostic method for prostate cancer screening in cases of PSA value within 4-10 ng/ml and nonsuspicious results of digital rectal examination

Objectives: Investigation of the possibilities of improving the accuracy of prostate cancer (PC) screening among patients with a PSA value of 4-10 ng/ml and nonsuspicious results of digital rectal examination (DRE), using as diagnostic method the PSA value change (PSA-VCh) after antibacterial treatment of prostate inflammation. Methods: The study included 61 patients with PSA 4-10 ng/ml, nonsuspicious DRE and inflammation in expressed prostate secretion (EPS). All these patients underwent antibacterial therapy with the following repeated PSA determination and PSA-VCh assessment. Results: Antibacterial therapy led to PSA decrease in 80% of cases. Effectiveness of PSA-VCh in PC screening was estimated. Sensitivity of PSA-VCh (with cut-off point-0.1.100%) equaled 85%, specificity 96%, positive predictive value 85% and negative predictive value 96%. Conclusions: Prostate inflammation proves to be a significant factor contributing to serum PSA elevation up to 10 ng/ml among patients with nonsuspicious DRE. Assessment of PSA-VCh after antibacterial treatment can improve PC screening accuracy in cases of PSA 4-10 ng/ml, nonsuspicious DRE and inflammation in EPS. Copyright (C) 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel.