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Microarray-based Identification of Individual HERV Loci Expression: Application to Biomarker Discovery in Prostate Cancer
Published on: November 2, 2013
Pathology consultation on prostate-specific antigen testing
Jaime H Noguez1, Corinne R Fantz2
1From the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA. jaime.noguez@emory.edu.
Objectives:
To provide clarity on the pros and cons of using prostate-specific antigen (PSA) as a screening tool for prostate cancer.
Methods:
Case scenarios and a literature review of recently published clinical trial data are presented to provide evidence of the controversy.
Results:
PSA is a sensitive biomarker for detecting diseases of the prostate, but it is limited in its ability to distinguish cancerous from noncancerous conditions or aggressive from indolent cancers and has resulted in a considerable amount of overdiagnosis and overtreatment.
Conclusions:
The analytical methodology for total PSA testing is both reliable and cost-effective, but patients should be encouraged to talk to their providers to understand the benefits and harms associated with this testing.
