Evaluation of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for prostatic acid phosphatase

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed to measure prostatic acid phosphatase in human sera. The value of this method was tested on four groups: patients with non-prostatic disease, with prostatic hypertrophy, and with untreated and treated prostatic carcinoma. The results of ELISA were also compared with those of enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and the conventional, enzymatic method. The specificity of ELISA as calculated from the hypertrophy group, was 76% against 68% for EIA and 71% for the conventional method. The sensitivity of ELISA, calculated from the untreated carcinoma group, was 57% against 60% for EIA and 70% for the conventional method. ELISA did not prove better than EIA or the conventional method in quantifying prostatic acid phosphatase in patients' sera.