Serologic tumor markers, clinical biology, and therapy of prostatic carcinoma

This article attempts to address the dilemmas created by, and the challenges identified with, the use of the serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) concentration in clinical practice. PSA has contributed to our understanding of the prevalence of prostate cancer, phenomena related to the androgen regulation of the cancer, and the accelerated development of therapies for hormone refractory prostate cancer. PSA, however, is of limited prognostic value in adrogen-independent prostate cancer. Future challenges remain in the development of serologic tumor markers that can predict virulence of disease and reflect androgen-independent progression.