Introduction: We report the incidence, clinicopathologic features, and outcomes of men who presented to an inner-city hospital with serum PSA >20 ng/ml.
Materials and methods: Five-hundred-sixty men underwent a transrectal ultrasound needle-guided biopsy of the prostate for elevated PSA >4 ng/ml with or without an abnormal digital rectal examination.
Results: Of the 560 men, 65 (12%) were found to have a serum PSA >20 ng/ml, and 57 (10%) were diagnosed with prostate cancer. In the group of 57 men with cancer, the positive predictive value of PSA alone was 72% for PSA levels of 20-29.99 ng/ml and 100% for PSA >30 ng/ml. Of the 57 men, 18 underwent definitive therapy, 24 underwent androgen deprivation, 8 refused treatment or were lost to follow-up, and 7 were treated on protocol. An additional seven men with cancer refused therapy or were lost to follow-up, thus giving a total of 15 (26%) men who were noncompliant to medical advice.
Conclusions: Serum PSA >30 ng/ml is an almost certain predictor of the presence of prostate cancer. Aggressive prostate cancer education and screening programs are needed in our inner cities in order to detect prostate cancer at an earlier, treatable stage.