The pros and cons of prostate-specific antigen testing

After its isolation in 1979, the prostate-specific antigen focused the interest of the urologists and soon became one of the most popular serum tumor markers. A large body of evidence, accumulated throughout the last two decades, convincingly proves that prostate-specific antigen is not only useful for marking the progress of prostatic carcinoma, but additionally has a potential role for the screening and diagnosis of this disease. This Dance Round briefly summarizes the various aspects of the clinical utility of prostate-specific antigen testing, the existing controversy due to its numerous limitations, and the current refinements in pros­tate-specific antigen levels, aiding to improve the specificity of the test. When all the pros and cons of prostate-specific antigen testing are evaluated, it becomes evident that the benefits of the test significantly outweigh its drawbacks.Biomedical Reviews 2001; 12: 57-63