Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death. The widespread introduction into the clinical practice of test for prostate specific antigen (PSA) led to an increase in the number of prostate biopsies performed. At the same time, a decrease in the threshold of age-specific PSA standards has resulted in an increase in the number of unnecessary biopsies. In this regard, a need has arisen for new prostate cancer biomarkers. PCA3 is a non-coding mRNA that is exclusively expressed by prostate cells. Currently, three generations of test diagnostic systems based on the quantitative analysis of the PCA3 mRNA in the urine or its cell sediment has already developed, and they differ in the type of material studied and the method for estimating the amount of PCA3 mRNA. Clinical studies of the developed test systems have shown that a high level of PCA3 expression in the patient’s urine correlates with the probability of detecting prostate cancer. PCA3 test has higher positive and negative predictive values than previously used PSA test. These data are repeatedly confirmed by studies conducted in different clinics. Thus, the introduction of the method of quantitative determination of PCA3 in clinical practice can significantly improve the efficiency of diagnosis of prostate cancer and reduce the number of unnecessary biopsies.

Keywords: PCA3, PSA, prostate cancer