Serum prostate-specific antigen in pancreatic disease

Background. Prostate-specific antigen has been considered a specific and se nsitive marker of prostate cancel: In recent years, it has been reported th at prostate-specific antigen may also be found in pancreatic tissue; howeve r very little evidence of serum levels of this protein in pancreatic diseas e has been forthcoming. Aims. To explore the possibility that pancreatic diseases may influence bot h total and free serum prostate-specific antigen. Patients and methods. A total of 72 females were studied: 44 patients with acute pancreatitis; 6 with chronic pancreatitis; 12 with pancreatic carcino ma and 10 healthy volunteers. Total and free serum prostate-specific antige n were measured using commercial kits. Results. In patients with acute pancreatitis, total and free serum prostate -specific antigen were detectable in two our of the 44 patients (5%). In pa tients with chronic pancreatitis, total and free serum prostate-specific an tigen were undetectable, whereas 4 out of the 12 patients (33%) with pancre atic carcinoma had detectable serum levels of total and free prostate-speci fic antigen. Conclusions. Female patients with acute pancreatitis and especially those w ith pancreatic cancer may have detectable serum levels of total and free pr ostate-specific antigen. Further studies are necessary to understand why th ese molecules are elevated in patients with pancreatic diseases, thus affec ting the specificity of prostate-specific antigen determination as a prosta te tumour market.