Comparative study of biochemical technique and radioimmunoassay for the measurement of serum prostatic acid phosphatase. Interest in the diagnosis of prostatic cancer?

The radioimmunoassay of prostatic acid phosphatase and the measurement of L-tartrate labil acid phosphatase by biochemical technique are compared in the diagnosis of prostatic cancer. This study concerning in 122 patients bearing prostatic cancers (40), prostatic adenomas (30) and other solid tumors (52) shows that the sensibility of RIA technique is better than the biochemical one. The positive predictive value of PAP-RIA is 93 p. cent However, seeing that the percentage of positivity of RIA in intracapsular stages rarely exceeds 40 p. cent, this test does not allow to increase detection power of early stages. The RIA technique, if it is better than biochemical method will not be effective as a sole screening tool for prostatic cancer and its principal application consists in the follow-up of the therapy of prostatic cancer.