Minimum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level diagnostic of prostate cancer

The PSA levels in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and prostate adenocarcinoma (PA) overlap, both below and above 4 to 10 ng/mL. There is no known PSA level diagnostic of PA. In this study, data were obtained in 160 consecutive men aged 58 to 87. Prebiopsy PSA levels (PSA-1) were obtained prior to "sextant" gun biopsies in 97 cases diagnosed as noncarcinoma, and in 56 cases diagnosed as PA. Multiple hematoxylin and eosin sections were made of each biopsy, and Gleason scores given the PAs. Cases were followed up to 30 months with repeated PSA levels and additional biopsies. The highest PSA level in NPA in this series was 54.6 ng/mL.