Relationship of prostate-specific antigen and prostate volume in patients with biopsy proven benign prostatic...

Emerging data suggest a direct correlation between prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and prostate volume in patients with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and clinical evidence of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). We attempt to confirm that a similar correlation exists between PSA and prostate volume in patients with biopsy-proven BPH.

Over a 5 year period, 2,270 patients were confirmed to have BPH as the only histological diagnosis after evaluation with serum PSA, trans-rectal ultrasound (TRUS) biopsy, and prostate volume measurement. PSA and prostate volume were statistically analyzed by age-stratified cohorts, including multiple regression analysis and assessment of correlation using the Pearson correlation coefficient (r).

Mean PSA and prostate volume increased with each advancing cohort of age, and the correlation of PSA and prostate volume was determined to be statistically significant (P < 0.001) in each cohort with a correlation coefficient ranging from 0.33 to 0.41.

We confirm that the relationship between PSA and prostate volume in a large series of patients with biopsy-proven BPH provides a comparable correlation to data for patients with LUTS and clinical BPH. As such, PSA represents a valuable approximation of prostate volume, and may prove to be clinically useful in the management of patients with BPH.