Prostate cancer is one of the most frequently diagnosed male malignancies. Oncomarkers, which are measured from blood serum, urine or tissue, are an integral part of the diagnosis or prognosis of prostate cancer, with serum markers being the most commonly used in clinical practice.
These include prostate specific antigen (PSA) with its derivatives - free PSA, PSA doubling time, PSA velocity and PSA density. Newer tests also include, for example, prostate health index (PHI) and the four kallikrein panel (4K score).
Among the latest markers, we list circulating tumor cells (CTC), already approved in the United States, as well as for now experimental microRNA (miRNA). In this article, we provide a brief overview of currently used and experimental serum predictive and prognostic oncomarkers of prostate cancer.