英文《亞洲泌尿外科雜誌》（Asian Journal of Urology）是由中國泌尿外科協會和上海第二軍醫大學創辦的這個領域的知名學術刊物。該刊除第一主編是中國泌尿外科協會會長擔任外，其他22名資深主編，絕大多數都是美國等西方學者（請見其主編網頁：http://www.ajurology.com/EN/column/column36.shtml）。

該刊在最新一期發表題為「評論PSA的研發」（Comment on the discovery of prostate specific antigen）的社論。該社論是該期雜誌的資深主編呂福泰教授（Tom F. Lue）撰寫的。出生在台灣的呂福泰教授，據百度百科詞條，為美國加州大學舊金山分校醫學院臨床泌尿外科副主任，「是華人中在美國外科領域最突出的人才，在國際上影響大，是公認的國際男科學的牽頭人物」，被譽為「泌尿外科領域的傳奇人物」。（百度百科：http://www.apssm2015.com/list/speakers.asp?sp=1）

這篇社論指出：因為該雜誌的新加坡社論編輯推薦發表了美國西北大學醫學院泌尿外科專家、本身也對男子前列腺癌的研究做出貢獻的國際權威William J. Catalona博士的文章「發明『PSA』的真正故事」（The 'True' History of the Discovery of Prostate-specific Antigen）http://www.ascopost.com/issues/december-15-2012/the-%E2%80%98true%E2%80%99-history-of-the-discovery-of-prostate-specific-antigen.aspx，他們才得知美籍台灣人科學家王敏昌是PSA的研發者。

該雜誌的社論說，令人遺憾的是，王敏昌發明了PSA，卻鮮為外界所知，所以他們雜誌特意就此發表社論，以激勵更多的年輕學子，像科學家王敏昌那樣，為亞洲人爭光。

呂福泰教授撰寫的這篇社論還說，《亞洲泌尿外科雜誌》也轉載了美國西北大學Catalona博士研究介紹PSA發展進程、並確信是王敏昌博士等發明了PSA的文章；「Catalona博士的文章等於提醒世人，亞洲人在世界泌尿外科領域作出的重要貢獻。

該刊網絡版還在社論旁刊登了王敏昌的照片。http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221438821500020X

下面是英文《亞洲泌尿科學季刊》的社論，和美國西北大學Catalona博士的文章：

Comment on the discovery of prostate specific antigen

The discovery of prostate specific antigen (PSA) and the clinical application of the PSA blood test as a diagnostic tool for prostate cancer is an important chapter in the history of urology.

Innumerable men have been cured of prostate cancer as a direct result of early detection by the PSA test. Some time ago, I read a short article by Dr William J. Catalona, a world-renowned authority and major contributor to prostate cancer research, entitled The ‘True’ history of the discovery of prostate-specific antigen [1]. Dr Catalona's opinion is that the real credit for the "discovery" of PSA and its introduction into clinical use as a marker for prostate disease belongs to T. Ming Chu and Ming C. Wang at Roswell Park Memorial Institute in Buffalo, New York, in 1979.

I then found out that Dr. Wang has passed away and his wife now lives in San Francisco. I learned from Mrs. Wang that both Drs. Chu and Wang graduated with bachelor's degrees in chemistry from National Taiwan University. Dr. Wang went to Canada for further studies and obtained a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Alberta before joining the research team at Roswell Park Memorial Institute.

For several years, Dr. Wang worked tirelessly day and night on this project that had been abandoned by others. The team finally purified and characterized the PSA protein, developed a blood test for PSA, and suggested its potential as a biomarker for prostate cancer. Sadly, this defining moment in history is unknown to most urologists.

The article by Dr. Catalona [2] for the inaugural issue of the Asian Journal of Urology serves as a reminder of the important contributions Asians have made in the field of urology.

I hope this will inspire young researchers to follow in the footsteps of pioneers like Drs. Wang and Chu to further the science and art of urology.

References

[1]

W.J. Catalona

The 'True' History of the Discovery of Prostate-specific Antigen By William J. Catalona, MD

ASCO Post, 3 (18) (December 15, 2012)

 http://www.ascopost.com/issues/december-15-2012/the-%E2%80%98true%E2%80%99-history-of-the-discovery-of-prostate-specific-antigen.aspx [accessed 06.02.14]

[2]

W.J. Catalona

History of the discovery and clinical translation of prostate-specific antigen

Asian J Urol, 1 (2014), pp. 12–14

Article PDF (281 K)

 

***********

編者註：英文《亞洲泌尿外科雜誌》的文章中提到的與王敏昌博士同時列為PSA發明者的朱燦銘博士（Dr. T. Ming Chu），也是這項發明專利的證書持有者。但PSA的實驗成功，主要是王敏昌博士（Dr. Ming C Wang）獨立完成。同是來自台灣，跟王敏昌是大學同學的朱燦銘，當時擔任美國Roswell Park Memorial研究所的實驗室行政主管。他的主要貢獻，是把這項實驗成果去申請了專利。在申請專利時，還把自己名字排在第一位，並還列入一個他的學生。不僅如此，之後還搶功，到美國媒體等說PSA是他發明的，而不提真正發明者王敏昌的名字。因為專利證書上有朱燦銘的名字，所以英文《亞洲泌尿外科雜誌》的社論和美國西北大學的權威教授的介紹文章，才把朱燦銘也列入「發明者」的行列。但芝加哥西北大學的美國專家的文章，特別提到的是王敏昌（notably Ming C Wang）。看來作為同行專家，他還是嗅出了一些真諦。

關於朱燦銘如果搶功，並欺負同為台灣人的王敏昌以及李清利的事情，請見王敏昌夫人葉秀卿女士當年寫的文章「憶先夫王敏昌博士」（http://www.taiwanenews.com/doc/20120828105.php），以及李清利的遺孀李廖明麗女士寫的文章「王敏昌和我先夫的冤屈」（http://www.taiwanenews.com/doc/20120825103.php）。