Tumor Marker - Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA)

Prostate cancer is the one of the most common types of cancer found in man. The incidence of prostate cancer increases with age and accounts for a growing number of newly diagnosed patients. Prostate specific antigen (PSA) is produced primarily in the prostate gland and is secreted into the prostate ducts and at ejaculation serves to liquefy the seminal coagulum. Virtually all healthy males under 50 years of age have PSA concentration under 4.0 ng/ml. If PSA level is above 10 ng/ml, the patient most likely to have prostate cancer. Some studies indicated that elevated total PSA levels are found in serum from patients who have prostate cancer cells metastasized throughout their bodies. Other studies indicated that Free PSA, which cannot form a complex with serine protease, tends to be more abundant in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia.

The Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) Rapid Test is a colloidal gold/antibody complex-based immunoassay designed for the qualitative determination of human prostate specific antigen in serum, plasma or whole blood.