Prostate cancer: serum and tissue markers.

The detection of prostate cancer, its clinical staging, and the prediction of its prognosis remain topics of paramount importance in clinical management. The digital rectal exam, although once the "gold standard," has been largely supplanted by a variety of techniques including serum and tissue-based assays. This article reviews recent progress in the development of prostate-specific antigen assays with greater specificity; molecular markers for prostate cancer (DNA ploidy, nuclear morphometry, markers of proliferation, and cell adhesion molecules); the link between vitamin D deficiency and the clinical emergence of prostate cancer; the possible correlation of serum insulin-like growth factor levels with the risk for developing prostate cancer; and the latest advances in radiologic staging.