Abstract
Background: Carcinoma of the prostate continues to be a major health problem in Japan. The incidence of prostate cancer is increasing.
Subjects and Methods: Serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-based prostate cancer screening was conducted on healthy Japanese seamen between 2005 and 2007.
Results: Among 8,453 subjects aged over 40 years in whom serum PSA was measured for the first time during this period, 191 were positive for PSA measurement (PSA level>4.00 ng/mL). The PSA positive rate was 2.3%, which is considered to be about correct for healthy adult males in an ordinary distribution of PSA levels in Japan. The PSA positive rate increased steadily with increasing age in the seamen. It was less than 1% for those under 50 years old, 5.8% for 65 to 69 years, and 12.7% for 70 years or older. A total of 16 seamen were diagnosed with prostate cancer through further evaluation during this study. The detection rate of prostate cancer was assumed to be at least 0.19% (16 seamen out of 8,453), and PSA levels ranged from 4.85 to 134.5ng/mL.
Conclusion: Our findings indicate that screening through PSA measurement is useful for detection of prostate cancer at an early stage in a population of healthy men.
