Acid phosphatase
Why this test?
- For diagnosis and monitoring of prostate carcinoma.
- For the diagnosis of liver and kidney diseases.
- For differential diagnosis of bone system diseases.
- For examination of patients with hematological disorders.
- For diagnostics of breast oncology.
In what cases is it prescribed?
- To confirm the prostate cancer.
Test information
Acid phosphatase is an enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of orthophosphorus monoesters with the cleavage of the phosphate group, which is optimally active in an acidic environment. Acid phosphatase is found in cells of various tissues in lysosomes and outside them.
The highest concentration of acid phosphatase is observed in the prostate gland, which is why the serum test for acid phosphatase is used to detect prostate carcinoma in men. The increase in the activity of prostatic isoenzyme increases in the presence of prostate carcinoma in 60% of men and often indicates the presence of bone metastases - in this case, the result of the analysis will be 40-50 times higher than the upper threshold of the reference values, since the enzyme is produced by neoplastic cells.
For women, the analysis of acid phosphatase activity is also of great importance - an increase in its level may indicate diseases such as hyperparathyroidism, Paget's disease, Gaucher disease, Niemann-Pick disease. The enzyme level increases in some forms of breast cancer and malignant metastases of tumors to bone tissue. The concentration of acid phosphatase can also be an indicator of the presence of certain hematological diseases, such as myelocytic leukemia.
