PROSTATE-SPECIFIC ANTIGEN IN MEN BORN WITH BLADDER EXSTROPHY

Objectives. To determine serum levels of prostate-specific antigen (PS A) in men born with bladder exstrophy and to investigate the clinical utility of this test in the bladder exstrophy population. Methods, Ten men aged 19 to 45 years with a history of bladder exstrophy underwent digital rectal examination and free and total serum PSA determination s. Immunohistochemistry for PSA and prostate-specific acid phosphatase (PSAP) was performed on archival prostate tissue from 1 man with blad der exstrophy. Results. Free and total serum PSA levels for all patien ts were measurable and below the upper limit for established age-speci fic reference ranges for normal men. Both PSA and PSAP were detectable by immunohistochemistry in prostate epithelial cells of a man with bl adder exstrophy. Conclusions. Men born with bladder exstrophy have det ectable serum PSA levels. However, because prostate cancer in men with bladder exstrophy has not been reported, whether PSA will have a clin ical role as a serum tumor marker for prostate cancer in this populati on remains to be determined. if so, the PSA reference range for men wi th the exstrophy condition will need to be defined. Because prostate h istology in men with exstrophy resembles that of normal men, careful c linical monitoring for benign and malignant tumors should not be overl ooked in this particular population. Copyright 1997 by Elsevier Scienc e Inc.