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Carlson GD, Calvanese CB, Partin AW. An algorithm
combining age, total prostate-specific antigen (PSA),
and percent free PSA to predict prostate cancer: results
on 4298 cases. Urology 1998;52:455-61.
Abstract: OBJECTIVES: To (1) determine if patient
age and total prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels
could enhance the ability of percent free PSA to
distinguish prostate cancer from benign prostate
disease within the 4.0 to 20 ng/mL total PSA range;
(2) define the probability of prostate cancer based
on patient age, total PSA, and percent free PSA;
and (3) define a probability cutoff that distinguishes
benign from malignant prostate disease. METHODS:
The 3773 urologically referred patients with serum
PSA values between 4.0 and 20 ng/mL had a sextant
biopsy diagnosed as either prostatic carcinoma (1234)
or benign prostatic disease (2539) within 60 days
of serum specimen collection. We created a logistic
regression model, using patient age, total PSA,
and percent free PSA, to assign a probability of
prostate cancer, and tested the model on an additional
data set (525 patients) to calculate sensitivity
and specificity. RESULTS: An 18% probability cutoff
detected 95% of malignant biopsies and identified
34% of negative biopsies in the validation set.
This approach yielded an 11% percentage point increase
in specificity over percent free PSA alone. A 20%
probability cutoff detected 90% of malignant cases
and identified 42% of negative biopsies. CONCLUSIONS:
A prostate cancer probability based on age, total
PSA, and percent free PSA is more effective than
percent free PSA alone in differentiating benign
prostate disease from prostate cancer. This model
may assist physicians and patients regarding the
need for biopsy
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