The radioimmunochemical measurement of prostatic acid phosphatase: current state of the art.

A novel radioimmunochemical method for the measurement of human prostatic acid phosphatase in serum and bone marrow has demonstrated distinct biochemical advantages over the standard enzymatic techniques that are currently utilized in the clinical laboratory. The promising nature of the immunochemical assay now in clinical assessment for prostatic cancer may lend itself particularly to more sensitive confirmation of the presence of prostatic neoplasia as well as significantly more precision in the clinical staging of the disease process. In its present form, utilization of the technique as a reliable screening test for early prostatic cancer is patently inappropriate from a biochemical and biostatistical point of view. Continuing research on the antigenic nature of the human prostatic acid phosphatase molecule and the development of antibody with enhanced specificity may somewhat resolve the current screening problem. However, the essentially insoluble problem of the relatively low prevalence rate for prostatic cancer in males in the United States will persist and will probably limit the clinical application of enzymatic and radioimmunochemical screening techniques for early prostatic cancer.