PSA velocity may not help detect cancer

NEW YORK, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- New York researchers suggest a rapidly rising prostate specific antigen may not indicate a greater risk of diagnosis of prostate cancer.

A.J. Vickers of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York said there were 2,742 screening-arm participants with PSA less than 3 ng/ml at initial screening in the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, or Gothenburg, Sweden, who were subsequently biopsied due to elevated PSA.

"Our aim was to evaluate whether PSA velocity indeed enhances the prediction of biopsy outcome in a large, representative, population-based cohort," Vickers said in a statement. "Our study has several strengths. It included a very large number of men in a randomized trial, who were therefore subject to highly standardized testing and follow-up procedures."

The conclusion of the study is that PSA velocity adds very little predictive value for determining the outcome of a first prostate biopsy in men with elevated PSA, the researchers said.

"We see little justification for formal calculation of PSA velocity and subsequent incorporation into a statistical model, and no justification for velocity cut points, in determining indication for biopsy," Vickers said.

The finding is published in the journal European Urology.