ABSTRACT
An overview is given of serum and urine prostate cancer markers that are currently under investigation and subsequently the P-Mark project is introduced. There are many markers showing promise to overcome the limitations of prostate specific antigen (PSA). Eventually, these markers should be able to increase the specificity in diagnosis, differentiate between harmless and aggressive disease and identify progression towards androgen independence at an early stage. In the P-Mark project, several recently developed, promising markers will be evaluated using clinically well-defined biorepositories. Following successful evaluation, these markers will be validated on a sample set derived from two large, European, prostate cancer studies and used for the identification of special risk groups in the general population. In addition, novel markers will be identified in the same biorepositories by different mass spectrometry techniques.
Subject(s)
Bone Morphogenetic Proteins/blood , Prostate-Specific Antigen/blood , Prostatic Neoplasms/diagnosis , Prostatic Neoplasms/mortality , Tissue Kallikreins/blood , Biomarkers, Tumor/blood , Bone Morphogenetic Protein 6 , Humans , Male , Mass Spectrometry , Neoplasm Staging , Prognosis , Prostate-Specific Antigen/classification , Prostatic Neoplasms/blood , Prostatic Neoplasms/urine , Risk Assessment , Sensitivity and Specificity , Survival AnalysisABSTRACT
New insights in the fields of terminology, diagnosis and treatment have been successfully implemented in the second revision of the practice guideline 'Lower urinary-tract symptoms in middle-aged and elderly men' from the Dutch College of General Practitioners. The result is a coherent, lucid and moreover practical guideline. It is important to stress that lower urinary-tract symptoms do not increase the patient's risk of prostate cancer. Screening for prostate cancer by the routine measurement of serum prostate-specific antigen is therefore not indicated.
