Biomarkers for early prostate cancer detection

In the 1990s the discovery of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) revolutionized early prostate cancer detection. Since that time, PSA has become an indispensable marker for diagnosis and follow up of prostate cancer patients. Despite its remarkable performance, PSA is not cancer specific. High PSA levels are found in both cancerous and healthy tissue, particularly in benign prostate disease, resulting in significant numbers of false positive cases. Hence, there is a need for new markers that better differentiate benign from malignant lesions and indolent from aggressive cancers to decrease the potential over treatment of prostate cancer. With recent advances in biotechnology, many promising blood biomarkers have been identified and are currently under investigation. This article reviewed the literature searching for emerging biomarkers for early prostate cancer detection.