Clinical utility of prostatic specific antigen and prostatic acid phosphatase serum levels in monitoring prostate cancer

We analysed 696 prostatic specific antigen (PSA) and prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP) serum samples by double antibody radioimmunoassay (RIA)I125 in the follow-up of 122 patients with prostate cancer under treatment. PSA levels were significantly correlated to response to treatment, whereas PAP results did not differentiate patients with partial or complete remission. Progression of the disease was detected in 95.2 and 85.4% of PSA and PAP samples, and increased to 99.9% using both simultaneously. On the whole, PSA was better than PAP in monitoring prostate cancer, and the efficacy was greater using both markers together.