The female prostate and prostate-specific antigen. Immunohistochemical localization, implications of this prostate marker in women and reasons for using the term "prostate" in the human female.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review and conceptual argument without systematic search criteria or primary quantitative data.
PubMed 10668204 · doi:10.14670/HH-15.131
What was done
This narrative review examined the immunohistochemical localization and clinical implications of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in female tissues, focusing on secretory cells of Skene's glands/ducts and other urogenital uroepithelial sites, and evaluated anatomical nomenclature arguments for designating these structures as the female prostate.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical values, sample sizes, or statistical metrics. It states that PSA is expressed in the apical-superficial secretory cell layer of both male and female prostate tissue as well as select uroepithelial cells. Skene's glands represent the primary source of female PSA, with production increasing in pathological states such as carcinoma, though non-prostatic sources (including diseased breast tissue) also contribute to total circulating PSA in females.
Why it matters
It outlines the biological and immunohistochemical parallels between male and female periurethral glandular tissue, advocating for the term "female prostate" and highlighting PSA's potential utility in female urologic pathology.
Limits
The abstract provides purely qualitative descriptions and lacks quantitative data, cohort definitions, or systematic review methodology. Non-prostatic sources of PSA in women complicate its specificity as an isolated clinical biomarker.
Cited by
- supports Skene's glands are the female anatomical homologue of the male prostate.