"BACKGROUND: Emerging evidence indicates that testosterone (T), and not dihydrotestosterone (DHT), is the most relevant androgen that promotes carcinogenesis in the prostate. Steroid 5-alpha reductase type II (SRD5A2) catalyzes the irreversible conversion of T to DHT in male reproductive organs. Because the SRD5A2 gene is highly polymorphic at codon 89, two SRD5A2 isoforms are expressed that differ in K(m) and V(max) values. The more common and rapid catalytic isoform contains a valine residue at position 89; the slower-catalytic variant contains leucine at this position.

"PURPOSE: The online Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial risk calculator combines prostate specific antigen, digital rectal examination, family and biopsy history, age and race to determine the risk of prostate cancer. In this report we incorporate the biomarker prostate cancer gene 3 into the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial risk calculator. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Methodology was developed to incorporate new markers for prostate cancer into the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial risk calculator based on likelihood ratios calculated from separate case control or cohort studies.

"PURPOSE: Early detection of prostate cancer by prostate specific antigen testing is subject to ongoing controversy. Thus, practical tests to improve or replace prostate specific antigen would be highly desirable. In diagnostic studies promising results were shown for myeloid related protein-14 in serum and urine. However, confirmation in longitudinal population based studies is needed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Incident prostate cancer cases (32) and controls (74) matched by age were identified during a 2-year followup of a longitudinal study.

"INTRODUCTION: We evaluated the ratio of free to total prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and PSA to protein concentrations in saliva and serum of healthy men. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Concentrations of protein, free PSA, and total PSA in serum and saliva were measured in 30 healthy men aged 42 to 73 years, and their ratios were compared between the two fluids. RESULTS: There was a significant direct correlation between serum free-total PSA ratios of serum and saliva (P = .04) and between total PSA-protein ratios of serum and saliva (P = .02).

"BACKGROUND: Height, a marker of childhood environmental exposures, is positively associated with prostate cancer risk, perhaps through the insulin-like growth factor system. We investigated the relationship of prostate cancer with height and its components (leg and trunk length) in a nested case-control study and with height in a dose-response meta-analysis.

"We examined the association between serum calcium levels and the risk for prostate cancer using a prospective cohort, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and the NHANES Epidemiologic Follow-up Study. Eighty-five incident cases of prostate cancer and 25 prostate cancer deaths occurred over 46,188 person-years of follow-up. Serum calcium was determined an average of 9.9 years before the diagnosis of prostate cancer.

"Genitourinary (prostate, bladder, and kidney) cancers together comprise the most common type of human neoplasms. As a common feature to these types of malignancy, the disease is frequently asymptomatic at its earlier stages, when curative treatment is most likely to be successful. Moreover, available tests for genitourinary cancer screening (mostly directed to prostate cancer) are characterized by variable (usually low) sensitivity and specificity, preventing a consensual support for their routine use by the medical community.

"Early detection and optimal treatment are the most effective means to improve cancer mortality. Mass screening for cancer has yielded a marked reduction of cancer mortality in the United States. Simple and effective methods are expected for screening of malignancy. Hematoporphyrin derivatives (HPDs) are known to accumulate in cancer cells; thus, HPD has been used for local diagnosis and photodynamic therapy of cancer. The lymphocytes of cancer patients also demonstrate the active uptake of HPD and this phenomenon has been applied for the diagnosis of cancer.