Prostate-specific antigen in acute hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

BACKGROUND Prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) is the most important tumor marker in prostate cancer diagnosis and follow‐up. Its catabolism by the liver has not influenced its use as a prostate marker until the recent report of a significant increase in a man and a woman with acute hepatitis. In addition, PSA was detected in liver tumor extracts, which warranted its evaluation in liver cytolysis and hepatocellular carcinoma. In this study, PSA was evaluated in a cohort of both sexes presenting either acute hepatitis or hepatocellular carcinoima. METHODS Forty‐two patients with acute hepatitis (21 male patients, 21 female patients) and 54 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (31 male patients, 23 female patients) were tested for PSA by equimolar immunoassay (Abbott AxSYM Total PSA, Abbott Diagnostics, Rungis, France) and for relevant liver biological parameters (alpha‐fetoprotein, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, total bilirubin, and prothrombin rate). RESULTS PSA was undetectable in all the female patients and was consistent with age in the males (PSA median and range in acute hepatitis, 0.36 μg/l (range, 0.05–1.3); in hepatocellular carcinoma, 0.36 μg/l (range, 0.02–3.9)). It did not correlate with alpha‐fetoprotein and aminotransferases. CONCLUSIONS Our results confirm the well‐established reliability of PSA, and show that PSA remains a valid prostate marker in patients with acute hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Prostate 41:258–262, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Infectious mononucleosis, other infections and prostate-specific antigen concentration as a marker of prostate involvement during infection

“…However, if the magnitude of PSA change is greater in middle‐ and older‐aged men than in younger men, as might be expected based on their likely greater degree of preexisting epithelial cell disruption and amount of PSA secreted, then these larger possible rises might be sufficient to influence both screening and biopsy decisions, and thus might be worth pursuing in future research. Additionally, whether or not noninfectious, inflammatory conditions, such as inflammatory bowel disease, influence serum PSA levels might also be of interest, but these have been examined in only a few small studies of hepatitis and periodontitis . We could not address this question in this study because our original data request was limited to infectious disease and genitourinary ICD‐9‐CM codes consistent with our original hypothesis, and because our de‐identified data can no longer be linked to the master DoDSR file.…”

Circulating Tumor Cells Measurements in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

“…The Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) had shown to be well-established reliability marker and remained a valid prostate marker in patients with acute hepatitis and HCC [102]. But these results are controversial, PSA and mRNA PSA seem to do not be specific to the tissue and frequently detected in peripheral blood cells from healthy patients [17].…”

Association between Liver Fibrosis and Serum PSA among U.S. Men: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 2001–2010

“…With respect to liver function, a study of 38,157 healthy Korean males also found that higher serum concentration of the liver enzyme ALT was correlated with lower PSA concentration (5). In addition, a small number of studies conducted in the United States found that PSA concentration was lower among patients with liver diseases than in men with normal function, although these findings were based on fewer cases and were not statistically significant (29)(30)(31).…”