PSA Assays Added to Tumor Marker Portfolio

A comprehensive tumor marker portfolio has added total prostate-specific antigen (PSA) assay and free PSA assays to its menu.

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men. Therefore, it is recommended that all men 50 or older be screened for prostate cancer by having an annual PSA test. If detected in its early stages, the 5-year survival rate for prostate cancer is nearly 100%.

Roche Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) has introduced the Elecsys total PSA and Elecsys free PSA assays to its immunoassay tumor marker menu for use on the Roche cobas 6000 analyzer series.

The advantages of the Roche Elecsys total and free PSA assays include better precision, an 18-minute turnaround time, and a convenient 20-μL-sample size for both assays. The tumor marker portfolio has a menu that already includes alpha fetal protein (AFP), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cancer antigen (CA) 19-9 (mainly used for pancreatic cancer), CA 15-3 (for monitoring breast cancer) and CA 125 (for ovarian cancer). Currently these assays are also available for use on the Roche Elecsys 2010 system and the Modular Analytics E 170 module.

Roche Diagnostics offers a broad portfolio of diagnostics tools that test for congestive heart failure, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Hepatitis B and C, fertility testing, diabetes, and many other diseases. This wide array of testing products and services is supplied to physicians, patients, hospitals, and laboratories.

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