ABSTRACT
PSA is, currently, the best marker to detect prostatic changes, although it looses specificity when used in the differential diagnosis of certain pathologies of the prostate gland. Forty-four patients with benign prostate hyperplasia were analyzed and 26 (59%) of them were found to have higher than normal PSA levels. An estimate was made of the degree of correlation between serum PSA and prostatic volume in the patients examined, so as to find a formula that could be useful to apply this marker in the differential diagnoses of prostate adenoma and hidden prostate cancer. No linear relationship was found between prostate volume with benign hyperplasia and PSA (R = 0.13). This lack of relationship in a high percentage of patients with prostate adenoma induces to turn unnecessary to histopathological confirmation in order to rule out prostate cancer.
