Karpaghavalli V. G.1 , Nirmaladevi P.2 , Sumathy S.3 , Ramadevi K.4
BACKGROUND Prostate specific antigen (PSA) is the widely used tumour marker for screening and diagnosis of prostate cancer. PSA levels are known to be influenced by many factors like race, ethnicity, environmental factors, advancing age etc. The present study was designed to determine the age specific reference range for serum PSA among healthy south Indian male volunteers and compare age-specific serum PSA levels in south Indian men with that reported from different regions of India. METHODS A total of 500 adult men who attended Master Health Check-Up programme in a tertiary care hospital in Chennai, India, were included in the study. 39 men were excluded from the study and 461 men who satisfied the inclusion criteria were assayed for PSA levels using eCLIA method. RESULTS The mean ± SD of serum PSA levels in different age groups in our study was found to be 0.68 ± 0.42 ng/mL in those less than 40 yrs.; 0.77 ± 0.46 ng/mL in 40-50 yrs.; 0.99 ± 0.75 ng/mL in 50-60 yrs.; 1.33 ± 1.06 ng/mL in 60-70 yrs.; and 1.36 ± 1.09 ng/mL in more than 70 yrs. CONCLUSIONS Our study showed lower age-specific serum PSA ranges for healthy south Indian men when compared to different regions in India. The study has also confirmed that serum PSA levels increased as age increases. It is necessary to establish separate age specific reference ranges of serum PSA for Indian men.
