Evidence map›Paper›PMID 20843935›Full record

ArticleBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2010

Prostate specific antigen concentration at age 60 and death or metastasis from prostate cancer: case-control study.

Andrew J Vickers, Angel M Cronin, Thomas Björk, Jonas Manjer, Peter M Nilsson, Anders Dahlin, Anders Bjartell, Peter T Scardino, David Ulmert, Hans Lilja

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 105 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
105citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
20.2field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

105 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 237 citations in OpenAlex.

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  16. Prostate cancer screening.Asian journal of urology · 2025
    Review
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45 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Andrew J VickersDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065, USA.
Angel M Cronin
Thomas Björk
Jonas Manjer
Peter M Nilsson
Anders Dahlin
Anders Bjartell
Peter T Scardino
David Ulmert
Hans Lilja
Lund University · SEMemorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center · USSkåne University Hospital · SE

Funding

SPORE In Prostate CancerP50CA092629 · NCI · SLOAN-KETTERING INSTITUTE FOR CANCER RES · PI JAMES A EASTHAM · 2001 to 2026
$63.0M
Long-term prediction of prostate cancer death from kallikreins measured in bloodR33CA127768 · NCI · SLOAN-KETTERING INST CAN RESEARCH · PI LILJA, HANS GÖSTA · 2010 to 2011
$692k
Long-term prediction of prostate cancer death from kallikreins measured in bloodR21CA127768 · NCI · SLOAN-KETTERING INST CAN RESEARCH · PI LILJA, HANS GÖSTA · 2008 to 2008
$310k
NCI NIH HHS P50-CA92629NCI NIH HHS R21-CA127768-01A1NCI NIH HHS R33 CA127768
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo determine the relation between concentrations of prostate specific antigen at age 60 and subsequent diagnosis of clinically relevant prostate cancer in an unscreened population to evaluate whether screening for prostate cancer and chemoprevention could be stratified by risk.

designCase-control study with 1:3 matching nested within a highly representative population based cohort study.

settingGeneral population of Sweden taking part in the Malmo Preventive Project. Cancer registry at the National Board of Health and Welfare.

participants1167 men aged 60 who provided blood samples in 1981 and were followed up to age 85.

main outcome measuresMetastasis or death from prostate cancer.

resultsThe rate of screening during the course of the study was low. There were 43 cases of metastasis and 35 deaths from prostate cancer. Concentration of prostate specific antigen at age 60 was associated with prostate cancer metastasis (area under the curve 0.86, 95% confidence interval 0.79 to 0.92; P<0.001) and death from prostate cancer (0.90, 0.84 to 0.96; P<0.001). The greater the number for the area under the curve (values from 0 to 1) the better the test. Although only a minority of the men with concentrations in the top quarter (>2 ng/ml) develop fatal prostate cancer, 90% (78% to 100%) of deaths from prostate cancer occurred in these men. Conversely, men aged 60 with concentrations at the median or lower (≤1 ng/ml) were unlikely to have clinically relevant prostate cancer (0.5% risk of metastasis by age 85 and 0.2% risk of death from prostate cancer).

conclusionsThe concentration of prostate specific antigen at age 60 predicts lifetime risk of metastasis and death from prostate cancer. Though men aged 60 with concentrations below the median (≤1 ng/ml) might harbour prostate cancer, it is unlikely to become life threatening. Such men could be exempted from further screening, which should instead focus on men with higher concentrations.

Indexed as

AgedAged, 80 and overAge DistributionCase-Control StudiesHumansMaleMiddle AgedNeoplasm MetastasisProstate-Specific AntigenProstatic NeoplasmsReference ValuesRegistriesRegression AnalysisSwedenProstate-Specific Antigen

Identifiers

PMID20843935
PMCPMC2939950
OpenAlexW2000635377

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.