Carcinoma of the prostate. Serum tumour markers

Health examination - screening: Tumour markers in serum are of minor value when used for detection of the disease in health screening protocols. Reflection of the course of disease: Tumour markers are of great value for monitoring the response to a given therapy and for early detection of relapse. In recent years, measurements of PSA has replaced PAP for this purpose. Prognostic indicator: Tumour markers in serum may also be used to indicate the biological activity of the tumour. Also for this purpose PSA appears to be a more reliable marker than PAP. General recommendation: For newly detected cases of prostatic carcinoma determination of a limited number of prognostic markers is recommended. If no treatment is instituted all these determinations may be repeated at an interval of about one year. Once treatment has been instituted assay of serum markers may be restricted to PSA alone and may be carried out at about six-monthly intervals. In protocolled clinical trials the intervals may be shortened.