AN AUTOMATED-METHOD FOR PROSTATE-SPECIFIC ANTIGEN - A CLINICAL-EVALUATION OF THE TOSOH AIA-PACK PSA IMMUNOASSAY

The volume of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests used for early detection of prostate cancer has increased significantly since the American Cancer Society and the Food and Drug Administration recommended its use in screening, in conjunction with a digital rectal exam, all men starting at age 50. To improve productivity in the laboratory, we evaluated the use of the Tosoh AIA-600 Padi (Tosoh Medics, Foster City, Calif) as a rapid random-access, ''walkaway'' method for determining PSA levels. The evaluation included 134 patient samples and appropriate laboratory controls. The Tosoh procedure correlated well with the Hybritech Tandem E EIA (Hybritech, San Diego, Calif) PSA assay (r = 0.9891). We concluded that the Tosoh AIA method for PSA analysis is suitable for routine assessment-of PSA levels. It is a nonisotopic, fully automated procedure that can analyze 40 samples in 90 minutes and integrates well as a random-access, ''walkaway'' analyzer in an immunoassay laboratory with moderate volume.