[Determination of tumor markers in the diagnosis of prostatic cancer]

The tumor marker study attempts to make a diagnosis before the clinical diagnosis. We have studied some of these tumor markers (PSA, PAP and acid phosphatase) in 97 patients who suffered from benign prostatic hypertrophy, prostatic cancer and other non-prostatic pathologies. PSA appears to be the best marker, as reported in the literature. The sensitivity and specificity for two different cut off levels (5 and 10 ng/ml) were analyzed in order to determine the best. The statistical analysis was done by the chi-square method. The differences between the tumor markers were not significant for sensitivity. PSA appears to be more sensitive than PAP. Although there are no significant differences for sensitivity between both cut-off levels, and between PSA and PAP. We consider that the 10 ng/ml cut off is better assuming we will have a higher percentage of specificity (p < 0.05).