Annals of Surgical Oncology Sign the Guestbook
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
This Article
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Richie, J. P.
Right arrow Articles by Loughlin, K. R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Richie, J. P.
Right arrow Articles by Loughlin, K. R.

Annals of Surgical Oncology, Vol 1, Issue 2 117-120, Copyright © 1994 by Society of Surgical Oncology

ARTICLES

Prostate cancer screening: role of the digital rectal examination and prostate-specific antigen

J. P. Richie, L. R. Kavoussi, G. T. Ho, M. A. Vickers, M. A. O'Donnell, D. St Laurent, A. Chen, D. S. Goldstein and K. R. Loughlin
Division of Urologic Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.

BACKGROUND: This study was designed to determine the efficacy of digital rectal examination (DRE) and serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) for early detection of prostate cancer in men > or = 50 years of age. METHODS: A prospective single-center clinical trial was conducted to screen 644 asymptomatic men, who were elicited by newspaper and radio advertisements, with DRE and PSA. Quadrant biopsy examinations of the prostate were performed if PSA > 4 ng/ml or if DRE was suspicious. RESULTS: Thirty-seven percent of the men (n = 241) had an abnormality of DRE or elevated PSA. Of the 163 patients who underwent transrectal ultrasound and quadrant biopsies of the prostate, 77% had normal biopsies, 14 (8%) had prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia, and 24 (15%) had carcinoma of the prostate. PSAs ranged from 0.3 to 65.5 ng/ml, with a mean of 2.35 and a median of 1.6. Ninety-five patients had a PSA > 4 ng/ml, of whom 17 had a PSA > 10 ng/ml. Sensitivity of PSA was 75% and specificity 87%; for DRE the sensitivity was 75% and the specificity 69%. Clinical stage of patients who underwent radical prostatectomy was B1 in 15 and B2 in five. Fifteen of 20 patients (75%) had organ-confined disease; the other five had specimen-confined disease. No patient was found to have nodal involvement. CONCLUSION: The combination of PSA and DRE seems to improve the stage of diagnosis of patients with prostate cancer. Larger, randomized studies will be necessary to evaluate the effect of screening on overall survival.


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Fam PractHome page
A. Hoogendam, F. Buntinx, and H. C. de Vet
The diagnostic value of digital rectal examination in primary care screening for prostate cancer: a meta-analysis
Fam. Pract., December 1, 1999; 16(6): 621 - 626.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1994 by the Society of Surgical Oncology.