Advanced prostate cancer is associated with a decrease in serum luteinizing hormone.
OBJECTIVE
Depletion of serum LH by LHRH agonists is used as a therapeutic treatment in hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (PCa). However, little information on serum LH in different patient groups is available.


METHODS
Patients with biopsy-proven PCa, men with BPH (biopsy-proven absence of PCa), two subgroups (serum PSA <4 ng/ml; PCa and BPH), and a PCa cohort before and after radical prostatectomy were analyzed for serum LH, testosterone (T), dihydrotestosterone (DHT), total and free PSA by immunological procedures.


RESULTS
PCa patients with cancer volumes >10 cm(3), or with advanced Gleason scores, had significantly lower LH values than men in a cancer-free control group (PSA <4 ng/ml). Eight weeks after radical prostatectomy, LH levels had returned to the level of the control group (p<0.0001). These alterations were not accompanied by corresponding changes of serum androgens. Introduction of a PSA/LH ratio appeared to increase the differences between BPH and PCA groups ranked according to Gleason scores, versus PSA or LH alone. However, the calculation of ROC curves indicated that PSA/LH ratios may not improve the discrimination of malignant and benign forms of the disease, compared to presently used parameters.


CONCLUSIONS
A significant reduction of circulating LH is observed in the most advanced forms of PCa. The effect does not come about by T- or DHT-mediated feedback inhibition. Since LH values after prostatectomy returned to practically the same levels as seen in the control group (BPH with <4 ng/ml PSA), it appears that the healthy prostate has no marked influence on serum LH while advanced PCa induces a decrease in serum LH.
Institut für Medizinische Biochemie und Molekularbiologie, Universitätskrankenhaus Eppendorf, Hamburg, Deutschland. hilz@uke.uni-hamburg.de
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Hilz
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Graefen
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Noldus
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Hammerer
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Knabbe
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Huland
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Huland
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood; D011468:Prostatectomy; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D012189:Retrospective Studies
D007986:Luteinizing Hormone; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen