Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data
Citation:
Bell D, Knipe H, PSA velocity. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 28 Mar 2025) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-83227
Disclosures:
At the time the article was last revised Henry Knipe had the following disclosures:
- Integral Diagnostics, Shareholder (ongoing)
- Micro-X Ltd, Shareholder (ongoing)
These were assessed during peer review and were determined to
not be relevant to the changes that were made.
View Henry Knipe's current disclosures
The PSA velocity (PSAV) is a statistically derived measure of how prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels change over time and has been used as a marker of how prostate cancer progresses or regresses.
Calculating PSA velocity, or similar measures of PSA kinetics, is fraught with difficulty and many different ways of calculating this parameter have been used. PSA velocity is measured in ng/mL/year 1-3.
PSA velocity is not recommended as a sole indication for further evaluation in prostate cancer screening 6.
A PSA velocity >0.27 ng/mL/year may indicate the presence a clinically significant prostate cancer in patients with a negative biopsy 5.
History and etymology
The concept of calculating PSA kinetics was introduced in a paper by H Carter et al in 1992, although the term PSA velocity was introduced later 4.
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1. Vickers AJ, Brewster SF. PSA Velocity and Doubling Time in Diagnosis and Prognosis of Prostate Cancer. (2012) British journal of medical & surgical urology. 5 (4): 162-168. doi:10.1016/j.bjmsu.2011.08.006 - Pubmed
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2. Vickers AJ, Till C, Tangen CM, Lilja H, Thompson IM. An empirical evaluation of guidelines on prostate-specific antigen velocity in prostate cancer detection. (2011) Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 103 (6): 462-9. doi:10.1093/jnci/djr028 - Pubmed
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3. Javaeed A, Ghauri SK, Ibrahim A, Doheim MF. Prostate-specific antigen velocity in diagnosis and prognosis of prostate cancer - a systematic review. (2020) Oncology reviews. 14 (1): 449. doi:10.4081/oncol.2020.449 - Pubmed
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4. Carter HB, Pearson JD, Metter EJ, Brant LJ, Chan DW, Andres R, Fozard JL, Walsh PC. Longitudinal evaluation of prostate-specific antigen levels in men with and without prostate disease. (1992) JAMA. 267 (16): 2215-20. Pubmed
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5. Wei J, Barocas D, Carlsson S et al. Early Detection of Prostate Cancer: AUA/SUO Guideline Part II: Considerations for a Prostate Biopsy. J Urol. 2023;210(1):54-63. doi:10.1097/ju.0000000000003492 - Pubmed
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6. Wei J, Barocas D, Carlsson S et al. Early Detection of Prostate Cancer: AUA/SUO Guideline Part I: Prostate Cancer Screening. J Urol. 2023;210(1):46-53. doi:10.1097/ju.0000000000003491 - Pubmed
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