title: Free-to-total prostate-specific antigen ratio as a predictor of non-organ-confined prostate cancer (stage pT3).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate whether the free-to-total prostate-specific antigen (F/T-PSA) ratio can be used to differentiate between stage pT2 and pT3 prostate cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 176 consecutive patients from the Göteborg Screening Study (median T-PSA 4.2 ng/ml) who underwent radical prostatectomy (without neoadjuvant hormonal therapy) were included in the study. The pT stage was correlated with classical risk factors such as T-PSA and Gleason sum and the impact of the F/T-PSA ratio was evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 42/176 patients (23.9%) had stage pT3 prostate cancer. Patients with an F/T-PSA ratio in the lowest quartile (<10.7%) had extracapsular tumor growth in 46.5% of cases, compared to 16.7% for those with an F/T-PSA ratio >10.7% (p=0.0002). Patients with high-risk features (T-PSA >10 ng/ml or Gleason sum > or =7) had a high risk (54-60%) for stage pT3 prostate cancer. In low-risk patients, the subgroup with an F/T-PSA ratio <10.7% had a risk of 37.0%, compared to only 13.3% for those with a ratio of >10.7% (p=0.0092).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In patients with low-risk early-stage prostate cancer, the F/T-PSA ratio provides statistically significant, independent and clinically relevant preoperative information about the risk of extracapsular tumor growth.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Sahlgrens University Hospital, Göteborg, Sweden. gunnar.aus@vgregion.se
authors.forename: Gunnar
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Aus
authors.forename: Charlotte
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lilja
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khatami
authors.forename: Carl-Gustaf
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Pihl
authors.forename: Jonas
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hugosson
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000473:pathology*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011300:Preoperative Care; D011336:Probability; D011379:Prognosis; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D011468:Prostatectomy / Q000379:methods; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013548:Sweden; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen