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Updated: Aug 9, 2026
MicroRNA Detection in Prostate Tumors by Quantitative Real-time PCR (qPCR)
Published on: May 16, 2012
Quantitative PSA mRNA determination in blood: a biochemical tool for scoring localized prostate cancer
Carlo-Federico Zambon1, Daniela Basso, Tommaso Prayer-Galetti
1Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Padova, Padua, Italy.
Objectives:
Our aim was to verify whether the quantitative determination of PSA mRNA in circulating cells is helpful in diagnosing and scoring localized prostate cancer (PC).
Design And Methods:
The study included 145 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), 138 with localized PC and 28 healthy controls (CS). PSA cDNA was amplified by real-time PCR from circulating mononuclear cells. Serum total and free PSA were determined. Prostate cancers were histologically scored according to the Gleason criteria.
Results:
The most sensitive index of PC was tPSA (70%), and the most specific was f/t PSA (80%). High PSA mRNA was found more frequently in PC patients with poorly differentiated (23.1%) than in those with well (4.5%) or moderately (4.3%) differentiated tumors.
Conclusions:
tPSA and f/t PSA are the best available tools for discriminating between localized PC and BPH. The quantitative assessment of PSA mRNA in blood might be helpful in the biochemical grading of prostate cancer.
