PSAmonitoring

PSAmonitoring refers to the regular measurement of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels in peripheral blood to manage conditions involving the prostate, notably prostate cancer and benign prostatic hyperplasia. PSA is a protein produced by prostate cells, and its concentration in blood can rise with prostate cancer, inflammation, enlargement, or recent urologic procedures. In clinical practice, PSA monitoring is used to establish a baseline, track changes over time, assess response to therapy, and detect recurrence after treatment such as radical prostatectomy or radiation therapy. Serial PSA values are interpreted using kinetics such as PSA velocity (rate of change per year) and PSA doubling time (time for PSA to double), and may be complemented by ratios of free to total PSA to improve specificity in indeterminate cases, especially when PSA is between 3 and 10 ng/mL.

Testing is typically performed by blood draw with attention to pre-analytic factors that can influence results, including recent ejaculation, prostatitis, infection, catheterization, biopsy, and recent strenuous cycling.

PSA monitoring has limitations: it is not cancer-specific and can yield false positives or negatives, leading to overtreatment or missed disease. Consequently, guidelines emphasize using PSA results in conjunction with physical examination, imaging, and patient risk factors, and they acknowledge ongoing debates about screening versus overtreatment. PSA monitoring remains a central tool in the risk-adapted management of prostate disease and in post-treatment surveillance. See also Prostate-specific antigen, Prostate cancer.