The role of prostate-specific antigen in light of new scientific evidence: An update in 2020

Abstract Objective To review and update the latest scientific evidence gathered in recent years regarding prostate-specific antigen (PSA) for better implementation into routine clinical practice. Evidence acquisition Analysis of the available evidence on the current role of PSA, based on the experience of an expert panel in the subject under analysis. Evidence synthesis Currently, PSA cannot be considered only as a guide for the presence or absence of prostate cancer. This determination can also help the urologist to decide on the most convenient treatment for a patient with benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) as a criterion for disease progression, and it can also suggest the suspicious existence of a prostatic tumor when there is PSA rise of >0.3 ng/ml over the level reached 6 months after having initiated treatment with 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor. However, the limits of this PSA rise with derivatives of alternative 5-alpha-reductase (5-ARI) inhibitors to dutasteride are controversial. Moreover, PSA is a key factor for the follow-up of patients with prostate adenocarcinoma at any stage who have received treatment (surgery, radiotherapy or focal therapies, hormone therapy), it acts as a guide to identify biochemical recurrence, to suspect the existence of local or distant recurrence, as well as to propose or discard adjuvant treatments. Finally, the role of PSA as a screening tool has been recently reinforced, demonstrating increased mortality rates or the existence of more aggressive cases of prostate cancer in those countries where the use of this tool has declined. Conclusions We present new data about the current role of PSA in the management of patients treated for BPH and/or prostate cancer that should be implemented into routine clinical practice, with special emphasis on the relevant role of this biomarker in the screening and follow-up of prostate cancer, as well as in the progression of BPH in dutasteride treatment.