Surgical margin and Gleason score as predictors of postoperative recurrence in prostate cancer with or without chromosome 8p allelic imbalance.
BACKGROUND
Identification of prostate cancer patients at risk for postoperative disease recurrence is an important clinical issue. Existing pathological markers can predict disease recurrence only to a certain extent, and there is a need for more accurate predictors.


METHODS
Using "counting alleles," a novel experimental method, we determined allelic status of chromosome 8p in 107 prostatectomy specimens. Statistical analyses examined the association between pathologic predictors (Gleason score, stage, surgical margin, etc.) and cancer recurrence in patients with and without 8p allelic imbalance (8p AI).


RESULTS
8p AI cancers were more likely to recur in the presence of a positive surgical margin, whereas recurrence of 8p retaining tumors was associated with the Gleason score, but not with the surgical margin.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that chromosome 8p allelic status affects the predictive value of "traditional" markers of prostate cancer recurrence. If confirmed by larger studies, these results may have important clinical implications.
Department of Hematology and Oncology, Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University School of Medicine, 1365 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. wei_zhou@emoryhealthcare.org
Wei
W
Zhou
Michael
M
Goodman
Robert H
RH
Lyles
So Dug
SD
Lim
Tanisha Y
TY
Williams
Kyle E
KE
Rusthoven
Jack S
JS
Mandel
Mahul B
MB
Amin
John A
JA
Petros
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D022981:Allelic Imbalance; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D002887:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 18 / Q000235:genetics; D002898:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 8 / Q000235:genetics*; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011468:Prostatectomy; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D012189:Retrospective Studies
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm