ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To determine the clinical usefulness of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) density in the transition zone (PSADTZ) for increasing the specificity in early detection of prostate cancer (PCa) and reducing unnecessary biopsies in males with PSA between 4.0 and 10 ng/mL. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study obtained PSADTZ measurements in 68 patients with PSA between 4.0 and 10 ng/mL. All patients underwent transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS) with biopsies. PSADTZ was estimated by dividing the PSA value by the volume of the transition zone (TZ) obtained. We compared performance measurements for these parameters with those from the PSA itself, PSA density (PSAD) and free PSA/total PSA ratio (F/T PSA). The ability of the method in increasing PSA specificity was demonstrated and compared in univariate and multivariate analyses, and by Receiver Operating Characteristic Curves (ROC). RESULTS: Of the 68 patients under study, 17 (25 percent) were diagnosed with PCa. The TZ volume (p = 0.001) and PSADTZ (p = 0.001) variables presented means that exhibited statistically significant differences. When compared with the area under the curve (AUC), ROC curves obtained by this method revealed that PSADTZ was the strongest predictor for PCa when considering the cut-off point provided by the curve; that is, 0.35 ng/mL/cc. When PSADTZ was employed, the detection failure would be close to 20 percent, and less than 45 percent of cases would undergo unnecessary biopsies. On the other hand, when F/T PSA was used, the loss would reach almost 40 percent; however less than 30 percent would undergo unnecessary biopsies. Nevertheless, PSADTZ had the only AUC presenting p < 0.05 in significance when compared with 50 percent, and was consequently discriminative. CONCLUSIONS: PSADTZ increased PSA specificity in early detection of PCa in males with PSA between 4.0 and 10 ng/mL. However, it was shown to have lower predictive value and lower accuracy than the percentage of free PSA since it presents a higher negative predictive value than all other parameters assessed, and it can be considered clinically useful for reducing unnecessary indications for biopsy.