Abstract
Prostate carcinoma frequently presents at advanced stages in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa, where screening remains limited. The limited specificity of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) highlights the need to investigate complementary biomarkers. This study compared serum PSA, testosterone, and creatinine levels between men with histologically confirmed prostate carcinoma and those with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) at a Nigerian tertiary hospital. A hospital-based analytical cross-sectional study enrolled 81 male patients over two years. Serum PSA and testosterone were measured using sandwich and competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, respectively, while creatinine was measured using the Jaffe kinetic method. Group comparisons employed independent-samples t-tests and one-way analysis of variance. Patients with carcinoma were significantly older than those with BPH (73.05 ± 7.68 vs. 65.63 ± 6.37 years; p < 0.001). The carcinoma group had higher mean serum PSA (40.43 ± 32.57 vs. 18.75 ± 6.75 ng/mL; p < 0.001) and creatinine (1.62 ± 0.86 vs. 1.09 ± 0.28 mg/dL; p < 0.001), but lower testosterone (2.77 ± 1.70 vs. 3.53 ± 1.26 nmol/L; p = 0.024). Prostate size did not differ significantly between groups (p = 0.401). These findings demonstrate differences in serum biochemical profiles between prostate carcinoma and BPH and support further investigation of a combined biomarker approach. Studies accounting for age differences and evaluating diagnostic performance are needed to establish whether testosterone and creatinine provide additional diagnostic value beyond PSA.