Serum biomarkers for diagnosis and characterization of prostate cancer

PSA is the most widely used diagnosticand prognostic biomarker in prostate cancer (PCa).However, its lack of specificity has generated the needto search for new complementary markers. In thisscenario, blood plasma constitutes one of the sourcesof search for new markers, which have been tried tobe combined with PSA and other clinical variables inorder to develop tests that increase their diagnosticspecificity.This narrative review of the literature provides anoverview of commercially available plasma biomarkers and tests for use in different clinical settingsfor PCa. The most studied markers to help select theappropriate patients for initial and / or repeat biopsyhave been: PHI, 4K, STHLM3. These markers havebeen oriented towards the diagnosis of the so-calledclinically signifi cant PCa, trying to validate and calibratetheir algorithms in different populations. Giventhe development and evolution in the diagnosis of PCa,there is still a lack of evidence of the impact of magneticresonance imaging (MRI) when used in combinationwith these new markers, as well as its possiblerole in the screening of the disease and not only in theearly diagnosis process. Furthermore, there are only asmall number of studies that have directly comparedthese tests with each other and with PSA, so there isnot enough evidence to know which test has the bestproperties in each clinical scenario. In order to clarifythe true diagnostic role of these new biomarkers, newprospective, comparative studies in different populationsare absolutely necessary to evaluate their clinicalutility in combination with MRI and fusion biopsy.