Androgen Receptor Polymorphism-Dependent Variation in Prostate-Specific Antigen Concentrations of European Men

The study examined the association between androgen receptor (AR) genetic variants and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels in 1,744 European men aged 40 to 79 without prostate cancer. It found that men carrying the A-allele of the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs1204038, which represented 16% of the cohort, had a 65% higher risk of having PSA levels above 3 ng/mL and an 87% higher risk of having PSA levels above 4 ng/mL compared to carriers of the G-allele. These men also had shorter CAG repeats in the AR gene, although CAG repeat length alone did not affect PSA levels. The study concluded that the A-allele of SNP rs1204038 is associated with higher PSA concentrations, which could lead to an increased likelihood of being referred for further prostate cancer examination, despite a lower history of prostate cancer diagnosis. The findings suggest that adjusting serum PSA levels for AR genotype could improve the clinical utility of PSA as a marker for prostate cancer screening.