The diagnostic value of urinary transferrin compared to serum prostatic specific antigen (PSA) and prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP) in patients with prostatic cancer.

Urinary transferrin, serum prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP) and prostatic-specific antigen (PSA) concentrations were measured in patients with prostatic cancer, prostatitis, benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) and in a control group. In contrast to recently published data it is concluded that urinary transferrin is not suitable as a tumor marker for prostatic carcinoma. Receiver Operating Characteristic curves were constructed to compare the diagnostic value of the different tests at different cutoff values. Sensitivity and specificity of the urinary marker are extremely low compared to the serum markers PAP and especially PSA, making the former not suitable as an additional marker.