Age-Specific Reference Range for Prostate Specific Antigen at a Health Center in Korea

Park, Jong Yeon; Kim, Han Gwun

Abstract

PURPOSE
Normal ranges for serum prostate specific antigen(PSA) differ among racial groups and by age. We sought to establish the relation between serum PSA concentration and age in a health care center Korea and to compare the vales with those of other races and other domestic health care centers.
PATIENTS AND METHODS
Between January 1997 and December 1998, a total of 2908 Korean men aged 40 to 79 years without clinical evidence of prostate cancer who were examined for serum PSA at Kangnung Hospital using the Tandem assay (Hybritech). Descriptive statistics, including the median value and 95th percentiles of the distribution of serum PSA concentrations, were calculated for 10-year age groups from age 40 through 79.
RESULTS
The serum PSA concentration correlated directly with age (p<0.001) using the 95th percentile of PSA. The normal age-specific reference ranges were 0.3 to 2.20 ng/ml for 40-49years, 0.3 to 2.30 ng/ml for 50-59 years, 0.3 to 3.50 ng/ml for 60-69 years, and 0.2 to 5.80 ng/ml for 70-79 years.
CONCLUSION
Age-specific reference ranges for serum PSA concentration may be lower for Korean men than for other races. Thus, it would be appropriate to apply different age-specific reference ranges for Koreans.