title: Reduction in PSA messenger-RNA expression and clinical recurrence in patients with prostatic cancer undergoing neoadjuvant therapy before radical prostatectomy.
abstract: BACKGROUND: We assessed the incidence of micro-metastases at surgical margins (SM) and pelvic lymph nodes (LN) in patients submitted to radical retropubic prostatectomy (RP) after neoadjuvant therapy (NT) or to RP alone. We compared traditional staging to molecular detection of PSA using Taqman-based quantitative real-time PCR (qrt-PCR) never used before for this purpose. METHODS: 29 patients were assigned to NT plus RP (arm A) or RP alone (arm B). Pelvic LN were dissected for qrt-PCR analysis, together with right and left lateral SM. RESULTS: 64,3% patients of arm B and 26.6% of arm A had evidence of PSA mRNA expression in LN and/or SM. 17,2% patients, all of arm B, had biochemical recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: Qrt-PCR may be more sensitive, compared to conventional histology, in identifying presence of viable prostate carcinoma cells in SM and LN. Gene expression of PSA in surgical periprostatic samples might be considered as a novel and reliable indicator of minimal residual disease after NT.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Desio Hospital, via Mazzini, 1 - 20033 Desio, Milan, Italy. marco.grasso@aovimercate.org
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grasso
authors.forename: Caterina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lania
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Blanco
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baruffi
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mocellin