Prostate specific antigen in diagnosis, staging, and follow-up of prostate cancer

Factors related to early castration resistance in metastatic prostate cancer. Results from the National Prostate Cancer Registry in Spain

INTRODUCTION

The objective of the study was to determine the factors independently related with the development of castration resistance (CR) in prostate cancer (PC) in the medium term.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

155 patients diagnosed with metastatic PC with a follow-up of up to 39 months. Data taken from the National PC Registry. The evaluated variables were age, PSA, nadir PSA, Gleason, perineural invasion, TNM stages, and ADT type (intermittent/continuous).

RESULTS

Mean follow-up 26,2±13,4 months. 47.1% developed early CR, with mean time until onset of 12,2±8,7 months. Univariate analysis the mean PSA was correlated with CR (290±905,1 ng/mL in non CR, 519,1±1437,2 ng/mL in CR, P<.001), mean age (73,3±8,3 years in non CR, 69,1±9,3 in CR P=.01), mean PSA nadir (15,5±57,3ng/mL in non CR, 15,9±23,7 ng/mL in CR, p<0,001), Gleason (in ≥8, HR:2,11. 95% CI: 1.22-3.65, p=0.006), and T stage (in T3-T4, HR: 2.85. 95% CI: 1.57-5.19, P<.001). Multivariate analysis the independent variables associated to CR are age (HR: 0.96. 95% CI: 0.94-0.99, P=.01), PSA nadir (HR: 1.65. 95% CI: 1,43-1,91, P<.001), and T3-T4 stage (HR: 2.11. 95% CI: 1.10-4.04, P=.02).

CONCLUSIONS

PSA nadir and T3-T4 tumor stage at diagnosis are associated to an increased risk of developing CR. In addition, age at diagnosis is shown as a variable that decreases risk. Therefore, an older age would be associated with lower risk probability of CR in the medium term.

Nadir PSA level and time to nadir PSA are prognostic factors in patients with metastatic prostate cancer

Background

Primary androgen deprivation therapy (PADT) is the most effective systemic therapy for patients with metastatic prostate cancer. Nevertheless, once PSA progression develops, the prognosis is serious and mortal. We sought to identify factors that predicted the prognosis in a series of patients with metastatic prostate cancer.

Methods

Two-hundred eighty-six metastatic prostate cancer patients who received PADT from 1998 to 2005 in Nara Uro-Oncology Research Group were enrolled. The log-rank test and Cox’s proportional hazards model were used to determine the predictive factors for prognosis; rate of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) and overall survival.

Results

The median age, follow-up period and PSA level at diagnosis were 73 years, 47 months and 174 ng/mL, respectively. The 5-year overall survival rate was 63.0%. The multivariable analysis showed that Gleason score (Hazard ratio [HR]:1.362; 95% confidence interval [C.I.], 1.023-1.813), nadir PSA (HR:6.332; 95% C.I., 4.006-9.861) and time from PADT to nadir (HR:4.408; 95% C.I., 3.099-6.271) were independent prognostic factors of the incidence of CRPC. The independent parameters in the multivariate analysis that predicted overall survival were nadir PSA (HR:5.221; 95% C.I., 2.757-9.889) and time from PADT to nadir (HR:4.008; 95% C.I., 2.137-7.517).

Conclusions

Nadir PSA and time from PADT to nadir were factors that affect both CRPC and overall survival in a cohort of patients with metastatic prostate cancer. Lower nadir PSA level and longer time from PADT to nadir were good for survival and progression.

Gleason score and pretreatment prostate-specific antigen in survival among patients with stage D2 prostate cancer

Although multiple studies have addressed the prognostic importance of tumor differentiation in patients with clinically localized prostate cancer, few data are available in patients with metastatic disease. We evaluated and compared survival data in two groups of men with Whitmore stage D2 metastatic prostate cancer initially treated with hormonal therapy. A series of 76 patients with D2 metastatic disease were evaluated and treated at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in conjunction with an additional cohort of 141 patients from the Louisiana State University School of Medicine (LSU). Pathological specimens were classified according to the Gleason score. Fifty-two (25%) of the combined NCI/LSU specimens had a Gleason score of 6 or less, 71 (34%) had a value of 7, and remaining 87 (41%) had scores between 8 and 10. The median PSA at the time of diagnosis for the NCI patients was 294.2 ng/ml. Time to treatment failure was defined as the time that a greater than 50% increase above nadir PSA was noted. In neither group was Gleason score correlated with overall survival. There was no association between the time to progression following hormone therapy and primary tumor Gleason score. The PSA concentration at the time of diagnosis was not correlated with the Gleason score for the NCI patients; however, there was an inverse correlation between pretreatment PSA level and time to progression following hormonal ablation. Gleason score does not appear to impact survival in metastatic prostate cancer. PSA as a marker of the biological behavior in metastatic disease may also be limited. These findings should be reevaluated in larger, better matched cohorts. Novel techniques such as serum proteomics, microarrays, and metastatic cell isolation methods may better predict outcome in advanced prostate cancer.

Nadir prostate-specific antigen best predicts the progression to androgen-independent prostate cancer

The objective of our study was to analyze the value of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels before and after androgen suppression to predict the time to androgen-independent progression (AIP) in patients with advanced and metastatic prostate cancer. A series of 283 prostate cancer patients under androgen suppression as a single treatment was studied. The disease was locally advanced in 98 patients and metastatic in the remainder 185. AIP was defined after 2 consecutive increases of serum PSA after the nadir value. The mean follow-up before AIP was 29.2 months (3-198). AIP was detected in 205 patients (72.4%). In 152 patients (74.1%), the event was detected within 24 months, while in 53 patients (25.9%), it was observed beyond 24 months. The multivariate analysis showed that the nadir PSA and the time to reach the nadir PSA were the most significant predictors of the time to AIP. The odds ratio of having a biochemical response greater than 24 months was 20 times higher in patients that achieved an undetectable PSA level of 0.2 ng/mL or less. Moreover in those patients whose nadir PSA reached beyond 12 months after androgen suppression the odds ratio was 18 times higher. These results show that the ability to achieve an undetectable nadir PSA and the time to reach it are the most significant predictors of the time to AIP in patients with locally advanced and metastatic prostate cancer under androgen suppression as a single therapy.

Nadir prostate-specific antigen as a predictor of progression to androgen-independent prostate cancer

OBJECTIVES

To determine the value of the before and after treatment level of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) to predict the time to androgen-independent progression (AIP) in patients with advanced prostate cancer who received androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) at the time of recurrence or progression.

METHODS

The records of 153 patients with advanced or metastatic prostate cancer who were treated with ADT were retrospectively reviewed. Fifty-six percent of the patients were initially treated with ADT. In the remainder, ADT was started at progression and/or failure. AIP was defined as two consecutive elevations of serum PSA above the nadir value by any threshold. Kaplan-Meier and multiple logistic regression analyses were used to determine the potential predictors of AIP.

RESULTS

The median duration of the PSA response was 24 months. The most important predictors of the time to AIP were the initial Gleason grade and the nadir PSA level after the initiation of ADT. The odds ratio of having a response greater than 24 months was 15-times higher in patients achieving an undetectable serum PSA level versus those who did not. For each point increase in the Gleason sum, patients had a five times higher chance of progressing to AIP in 24 months or less.

CONCLUSIONS

The ability to achieve an undetectable nadir PSA level and the initial Gleason grade are significant predictors of the time to AIP in men treated with ADT for metastatic and advanced prostate cancer.