A Case of Pseudoelevation of Prostate Specific Antigen Level
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 31, 2026
Microarray-based Identification of Individual HERV Loci Expression: Application to Biomarker Discovery in Prostate Cancer
Published on: November 2, 2013
Background:
Prostate specific antigen (PSA) is an important marker for the diagnosis, monitoring and efficacy evaluation of prostate cancer. Therefore, the accuracy of PSA detection results is of great significance for the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer.
Methods:
We reported a case with abnormally elevated PSA. The patient's serum samples were subjected to investigations for suspected interference. Interference studies included measurement of PSA on different analytical platforms, serial dilutions, heterophilic blocking tube (HBT) analysis and polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation.
Results:
In this case, the abnormal increases in the results of PSA detected by Abbott i2000SR immune analyzer were considered to be the pseudoelevation caused by interferences, resulting in unnecessary prostate puncture examination.
Conclusions:
When the patient's PSA level is abnormally elevated, which is not consistent with the clinical diagnosis, we should consider immunological interference in PSA assays. Pretreatment with PEG may be an economical, simple, and feasible scheme for removing interference.
