The Role of PSA in Disease of the Prostate

Dear Colleagues,

It has generally been thought that the development, growth, differentiation, and functions in the health and disease of the prostate are controlled by the prostate as a target organ of sex hormones, principally androgen. However, awareness of the presence of and contribution in the prostate of other bioactive molecules and their individual and cumulative modification of the effects of testosterone, and possible interaction with compounds of the intraprostatic lymphoreticular system, make it evident that a veritable array of factors are involved in the physiology and pathophysiology of the prostate in health and disease.

Of the innumerable bioactive molecules (biological markers) produced by the prostate, none perhaps other than prostate-specific antigen (PSA), albeit not cancer-specific, have received more attention in contemporary literature. Levels of PSA may vary for several reasons, including in association with the three principal diseases of the prostate, prostatitis, benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) and/or cancer, and may be a marker of prostate pathophysiology in general. There is, therefore, a need to reconsider and investigate the role of PSA solely not as a marker of prostate cancer, but defining its physiologic function(s) and hence its role in the pathophysiology of the prostate. This Special Issue of Cells will give long-overdue consideration to the role of PSA in prostate disease.

Dr. Richard J Ablin
Guest Editor

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