False-positive serum prostate-specific antigen values in a patient with non-hodgkin lymphoma of the kidney

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is the clinically most useful tumor marker for prostate cancer. Although false-positive elevations have been reported due to disease processes outside the prostate gland with the use of the polyclonal assay, such falsepositive test results have been exceedingly rare with the use of the monoclonal assay. We report the case of a patient diagnosed with a B-cell lymphoma of the kidney and a significant elevation of serum PSA levels by monoclonal assay in the absence of either inflammatory or malignant prostate disease. PSA returned to normal during lymphomaspecific chemotherapy with a cyciophosphamide, mechlorethamine, vincristine, procarbazine, prednisone regimen. Possible explanations and clinical implications are discussed.