What is PSA?

PSA value determination, Munich

The PSA value stands for prostate specific antigen and was chemically detected in the prostate a good 40 years ago in the USA. PSA is a protein that is synthesized exclusively in the prostate gland and serves to liquify seminal fluid in order to enable the fertilization of male sperm cells.

Because PSA is therefore organ-specific, elevated PSA blood levels indicate diseases of the prostate, such as benign prostatic enlargement (adenoma), inflammation of the prostate (prostatitis) or cancer (carcinoma). Mechanical influences on the prostate (pressure) can also cause the PSA level in the blood to rise.

If prostate cancer is suspected, the ratio of the PSA concentration in the blood to the prostate volume (PSA density) is usually elevated, so that further examinations are necessary to prove the existence of prostate cancer (prostate carcinoma).

In addition to the determination of the quotient of the free PSA concentration (fPSA) and the total PSA concentration (tPSA) in the blood serum, further examinations such as the determination of the PCA3 urine concentration (prostate cancer antigen 3) and/or the performance of a multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging of the prostate (mpMRI) may be necessary in order to confirm the suspicion of prostate cancer.

Ultimately, confirmation of the possibility of prostate cancer must be obtained by taking a tissue sample (biopsy) from the prostate, which we perform on an outpatient basis in the clinic using the highly modern and innovative image fusion technique (fusion biopsy) under general anesthesia.