[Exosomes in the diagnosis of prostate cancer: Advances in studies]

In recent years, the incidence of PCa in China has been increasing year by year. Early diagnosis of the malignancy and monitoring of its progression are keys to the reduction of mortality. Currently, early diagnosis of PCa is mainly achieved by determining the level of PSA. Due to the insufficient specificity of PSA, definite diagnosis necessitates needle biopsy, which, as an invasive procedure, causes injury to the patients. Therefore biomarkers seem to be a significant option for the improvement of diagnostic accuracy. Exosomes are 30－150 nm extracellular vesicles secreted by various types of cells in normal and pathological conditions and exist stably in circumcision. Studies show that exosomes contain miRNAs and proteins critical to the progression and metastasis of PCa and have a great potential in the diagnosis of the malignancy. This review outlines the advances in the application of exosomes as novel biomarkers in the diagnosis of PCa.