The second Stanford conference on International Standardization of prostate specific antigen assays

Abstract

The first scientific presentation was made by Dr. Thomas Stamey, Chairman of the Department of Urology, and host of the conference. Dr. Stamey addressed the important issues in prostatic physiology, particularly those associated with the clinical presence of serum PSA (prostate specific antigen) values between 4.0 and 10.0 ng/ml. Only three diseases cause an elevation in serum PSA: BPH (benign prostatic hyperplasia), prostate cancer (Cap), and acute bacterial prostatitis, which is a rare, dramatic event. From 1984 to the present, more than 850 radical prostatectomy specimens have been studied at Stanford. Those with a tumor volume of more than 12 ml are never cured, and less than half are cured in the 6 to 12 ml range. The average prostate removed weighed 40 gm. Seventy percent of cancers are found in the peripheral zone. BPH occurs is found in the transition zone, is multinodular, and is located in the anterior-medial part of the prostate. BPH compresses the urethra in the anterior-posterior plane as it develops. About 25% of all cancers occur in the transition zone-BPH area and are generally found by transurethral resection.