Monitoring disease after radical prostatectomy
This test should not be used for initial prostate cancer screening.
Electrochemiluminescent Immunoassay (ECLIA)
Post Prostatectomy
PSA, Third Generation
Ultrasensitive PSA
Serum
Free prostate-specific antigen (PSA) can be added on within 12 hours of performing this test. Specimen must have been shipped frozen. Call 800-533-1710 if wanting to order PSAFT / Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA), Total and Free, Serum instead.
Include patient's age.
Collection Container/Tube:
Preferred: Serum gel
Acceptable: Red top
Submission Container/Tube: Plastic vial
Specimen Volume: 1 mL
Collection Instructions:
1. Serum gel tubes should be centrifuged within 2 hours of collection.
2. Red-top tubes should be centrifuged and the serum aliquoted into a plastic vial within 2 hours of collection.
0.75 mL
| Gross hemolysis | Reject |
| Gross lipemia | OK |
| Gross icterus | OK |
| Specimen Type | Temperature | Time | Special Container |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serum | Frozen (preferred) | 180 days | |
| Refrigerated | 14 days | ||
| Ambient | 7 days |
Monitoring disease after radical prostatectomy
This test should not be used for initial prostate cancer screening.
Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is the most widely used method to detect prostate cancer recurrence after radical prostatectomy (RP). Approximately 20% to 35% of patients develop a rising PSA following RP for clinically localized prostate cancer. Biochemical recurrence (BCR) is defined as an increase in PSA after curative therapy without clinical or radiological evidence of disease. The median time to BCR could vary between 2 to 3 years. A standard PSA cutpoint to indicate BCR has yet to be established. For example, the American Urological Association and the American Society for Radiation Oncology defined BCR after surgery as initial and confirmatory PSA concentrations of 0.2 ng/mL or greater. However, a BCR definition of 0.4 ng/mL PSA has also been proposed.
Assays that measure PSA to concentrations below 0.1 ng/mL are denoted ultrasensitive PSA (USPSA). The use of USPSA cutpoints below currently recommended PSA thresholds may be helpful in identifying cases of early biochemical recurrence and for selecting patients with adverse clinicopathologic risk factors for secondary therapy. However, some authors believe that USPSA assays offers minimal advantages and could lead to increased anxiety in patients who have clinically meaningless rises of PSA and might lead to overtreatment.
Males:
| Age (years) | PSA upper limit (ng/mL) |
| <40 | < or =2.0 |
| 40-49 | < or =2.5 |
| 50-59 | < or =3.5 |
| 60-69 | < or =4.5 |
| 70-79 | < or =6.5 |
| > or =80 | < or =7.2 |
Females: Not applicable
An undetectable (<0.01 ng/mL) ultrasensitive prostate-specific antigen (USPSA) concentration after radical prostatectomy is reassuring and may aid in postoperative risk stratification of patients.
A detectable USPSA concentration (> or =0.01 ng/mL) after radical prostatectomy (RP) does not necessarily translate into disease progression or recurrence. Interpretation of a detectable USPSA needs to be made in conjunction with other clinicopathologic risk factors. The cutpoint for interpretation of USPSA assays remains controversial and has ranged from 0.01 to 0.05 ng/mL. For example, in a study that included 754 men after RP, a cutpoint of 0.01 ng/mL was an independent predictor of biochemical recurrence (BCR). BCR-free survival at 5 years was 92.4% for patients with an USPSA post-RP of less than 0.01 ng/mL and 56.8% for patients with an USPSA post-RP of 0.01 ng/mL or higher.(1) In the same study a cutoff of 0.03 ng/ml also predicted BCR independent of clinicopathological factors and BCR-free survival at 5 yrs was 90.8% for patients with an USPSA post-RP of less than 0.03 ng/mL and 26.9% for patients with a PSA post-RP of greater or equal to 0.03 ng/mL.(1)
Serum markers are not specific for malignancy, and values may vary by method.
When age is not supplied, the results cannot be flagged as high or low.
Digital rectal examination generally does not increase normal prostate-specific antigen (PSA) values. However, cystoscopy, urethral instrumentation, and prostate biopsy may increase PSA levels.
Some patients who have been exposed to animal antigens, either in the environment or as part of treatment or imaging procedure, may have circulating anti-animal antibodies present. These antibodies may interfere with the assay reagents to produce unreliable results.
No interference was observed from rheumatoid factors up to a concentration of 1500 IU/mL.
There is no high-dose hook effect at total PSA concentrations up to 17,000 ng/mL.
Serum biotin concentrations up to 1200 ng/mL do not interfere with this assay. Concentrations up to 1200 ng/mL may be present in specimens collected from patients taking extremely high doses of biotin up to 300 mg per day.(2) In a study among 54 healthy volunteers, supplementation with 20 mg/day biotin resulted in a maximum serum biotin concentration of 355 ng/mL 1 hour post-dose.(3)
1. Sokoll LJ, Zhang Z, Chan DW, et al: Do ultrasensitive prostate specific antigen measurements have a role in predicting long-term biochemical recurrence-free survival in men after radical prostatectomy? J Urol. 2016 Feb;195(2):330-336. doi: 10.1016/j.juro.2015.08.080
2. Saint Paul LP, Debruyne D, Bernard D, Mock DM, Defer GL: Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of MD1003 (high-dose biotin) in the treatment of progressive multiple sclerosis. Expert Opin Drug Metab Toxicol. 2016;12(3):324-344. doi: 10.1517/17425255.2016.1136288
3. Grimsey P, Frey N, Bendig G, et al: Population pharmacokinetics of exogenous biotin and the relationship between biotin serum levels and in vitro immunoassay interference. J Pharmacokinet Pharmacodyn. 2017 Sept;2(4):247-256. doi: 10.4155/ipk-2017-0013
4. Thompson IM, Valicenti RK, Albertsen P, et al: Adjuvant and salvage radiotherapy after prostatectomy: AUA/ASTRO guideline. J Urol. 2013 Aug;190(2):441-449. doi: 10.1016/j.juro.2013.05.032
5. Mir MC, Li J, Klink JC, Kattan Mw, Klein EA, Stephenson A: Optimal definition of biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy depends on pathologic risk factors: Identifying candidates for early salvage therapy. Eur Urol. 2014 Aug;66(2):204-210. doi: 10.1016/j.eururo.2013.08.022
The Roche Elecsys total PSA (prostate-specific antigen) assay is a sandwich electrochemiluminescence immunoassay that employs a biotinylated monoclonal PSA-specific antibody and a monoclonal PSA-specific antibody labeled with ruthenium complex. PSA in the specimen reacts with both the biotinylated monoclonal PSA-specific antibody (mouse) and the monoclonal PSA-specific antibody (mouse) labeled with a ruthenium, forming a sandwich complex. Streptavidin-coated microparticles are added and the mixture is aspirated into the measuring cell where the microparticles are magnetically captured onto the surface of the electrode. Unbound substances are then removed with ProCell. Application of voltage to the electrode induces the chemiluminescent emission, which is then measured against a calibration curve to determine the amount of PSA in the patient specimen. This method has been standardized against the Reference Standard/WHO 96/670.(Package insert: Elecsys total PSA reagent. Roche Diagnostics; V 3.0 English, 02/2020)
Monday through Friday
This test has been cleared, approved, or is exempt by the US Food and Drug Administration and is used per manufacturer's instructions. Performance characteristics were verified by Mayo Clinic in a manner consistent with CLIA requirements.
84153
| Test Id | Test Order Name | Order LOINC Value |
|---|---|---|
| PSAU | PSA, Ultrasensitive, S | 35741-8 |
| Result Id | Test Result Name |
Result LOINC Value
Applies only to results expressed in units of measure originally reported by the performing laboratory. These values do not apply to results that are converted to other units of measure.
|
|---|---|---|
| PSAU | PSA, Ultrasensitive, S | 35741-8 |