A prospective comparative study on serum acid phosphatases in the diagnostics of prostatic cancer

The diagnostic efficacy of two prostatic tumor markers, S-AP and S-PAP, was compared in a prospective clinical series consisting of 101 BPH- and 39 PCa-patients. As a predictor of prostatic cancer the specificity of S-AP (greater than or equal to 12 U/1) and S-PAP-RIA (greater than or equal to 4 micrograms/1) was 0.97 and 0.96, and the sensitivity 0.21 and 0.41, respectively. The S-PAP-RIA value of over 8 micrograms/1 always predicted an inoperable prostatic cancer (T4 or M1). The authors conclude that neither of these enzymes is suitable for the screening of early prostatic cancer, but the S-PAP-RIA might be a good predictor of inoperability of advanced prostatic cancer.