The Relationship Between Prostate Volume, Prostate-Specific Antigen and Age in Saudi Men with Benign Prostatic Conditions

Abstract

Objectives: To assess the relationship between prostate volume (PV), prostate specific antigen (PSA) and age in a cohort of Saudi men from the Urology Department, King Abdul Aziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Methods: Medical records of 447 Saudi men aged 20-89 years with benign prostatic conditions seen between January 2003 and June 2009, were reviewed, retrospectively. Cases with PSA >10 ng/ml, proven prostate cancer, previous prostate surgery or those who received 5-alpha reductase inhibitors (5-ARIs) were excluded. The study population was categorized into seven successive age groups (20-89 years). The variables of age, PV and PSA were examined. Using mean PV of the 20-29 years age group and mean PSA of the 40-49 years age group as reference points, percentage differences in mean PV and mean PSA in subsequent age groups were determined. A p-value <0.05 was considered significant. Findings in Saudi patients were compared to other ethnicities.
Results: 447 men were enrolled with mean age 64.2 years, mean PV 35.2 cc (range 7-184 cc) and mean PSA 2.2 ng/ml (range 0.18-10 ng/ml). Overall, 62% (277/447) had PV <30 cc and 8.7% (39/447) had PV ≥50 cc. Among individual age groups, most men had PV <30 cc, except the
70-79 years age group where 55.2% (53/96) had PV >30 cc. Percentage differences of PV and PSA in 80-89 years age group (+150% and +70%, respectively) were lower than in the 60-69 and 70-79 years age groups (+187% and +160%; +207.2% and +220% for PV and PSA, respectively).
All variables demonstrated significant weak correlations; except PV and PSA which showed a significant positive relationship (p <0.0001; r=0.441).
Conclusion: PV and PSA are significantly and strongly correlated. PV and PSA in Saudi men are closer to Asian than white ethnicities.

Keywords: Prostate, volume, prostate specific antigen, prostatic hyperplasia, Saudi Arabia