Prostate Specific Antigen Screening among Men in Abakaliki, South East Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer among Nigerian men. Prostate specific antigen (PSA) is produced by the prostate gland and it is an important tumor marker in the screening and diagnosis of prostate cancer because the latter is often associated with elevated PSA levels. The aim of this study was to evaluate the profile and PSA levels of men presenting for prostate cancer screening at the National Obstetric Fistula Centre, Abakaliki, Nigeria. Methods: This was a retrospective study of 103 patients who were seen between January 2014 and December 2015 and screened for prostate cancer using PSA assay. Data was extracted from folders of patients using a proforma and analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 21. Result: Out of the 103 clients studied, 67 (65%) were between the ages of 40 and 59 years. The mean age was 54.38 ± 12.5 years. Eighty-one (78.6%) of the study population had PSA levels 4 ng/ml and below, 5 (4.9%) had PSA levels of 4.1 - 10 ng/ml, while 17 (16.5%) had PSA levels > 10 ng/ml. The mean PSA was 4.75 ± 8.2 ng/ml. None of the patients with family history of cancer had PSA levels of >4 ng/ml. Those who were positive for HIV also had normal PSA results. Conclusion: The findings from this study showed that the prevalence of men with raised PSA (>4 ng/ml) was high (21.4%) especially in the 60 - 69 years age group. There is need to increase prostate cancer screening using PSA in our setting. The use of other parameters such as digital rectal examination, PSA density, PSA velocity and free PSA will be helpful to determine the need for histological diagnosis in these patients.