title: The prognostic importance of prostate-specific antigen in monitoring patients undergoing maximum androgen blockage for metastatic prostate cancer.
abstract: The changes in serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) concentrations can be used as a prognostic factor in patients undergoing maximum androgen blockage for metastatic prostate cancer. A total of 149 patients followed in our department were classified into 4 groups on the basis of PSA changes: group 1, those with normalisation of PSA levels within the first 3 months; group 2, those with normalisation of PSA between months 3 and 6; group 3, those with a decrease in PSA, but not reaching normal range; group 4, those with no decrease. The gleason scores and the number of bone metastases were also compared between the groups. Again time to progression in patients with Gleason scores 5-7 (grade 2) and over 7 (grade 3) whose PSA levels decreased between first and 3rd months (mean 21.2 months) were significantly longer than the patients with same gleason scores whose PSA levels decreased between 3rd and 6th months (mean 13.4 months) (p< 0.001). The decrease in PSA level is more important than gleason scores in determining the time to progression. Early normalisation of PSA delays the time to progression and when combined with gleason scores, PSA is an important prognostic factor in predicting the success of the therapy.
authors.affiliation: Ankara SSK Hospital, 1st Department of Urology, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kiper
authors.forename: Orhan
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Yigitbasý
authors.forename: Abdurrahim
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Imamoglu
authors.forename: Can
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tuygun
authors.forename: Celaleddin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Turan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000726:Androgen Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary; D018450:Disease Progression; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009919:Orchiectomy; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000726:Androgen Antagonists; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen