Plasma chromogranin A in patients with prostate cancer improves the diagnostic efficacy of free/total prostate-specific antigen determination.
BACKGROUND
We ascertained whether plasma chromogranin A enhances the power of serology assessing prostate cancer (PC).


METHODS
We studied 56 PC and 83 benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) patients. In the sera we measured total prostate-specific antigen (tPSA) and free PSA (fPSA) and calculated the ratio between fPSA and tPSA (f/tPSA). In plasma samples the levels of chromogranin A (CgA) were also assayed.


RESULTS
PC patients had higher CgA (p < 0.005) and tPSA (p < 0.05) levels, and a lower f/tPSA ratio (p < 0.001), than BPH patients. When f/tPSA and CgA were combined, the diagnostic sensitivity was enhanced (57-73%), while the specificity had only an 8% reduction (from 89 to 80%). CgA was only correlated to the Gleason PC score (p < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
CgA determination in PC may enhance the diagnostic accuracy of the f/tPSA assay and provides useful information on the tumor grade.
Fracalanza
S
S
Department of Urology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy. simonetta.fracalanza@unipd.it
Prayer-Galetti
T
T
Pinto
F
F
Navaglia
F
F
Sacco
E
E
Ciaccia
M
M
Plebani
M
M
Pagano
F
F
Basso
D
D
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D001706:Biopsy; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D053379:Chromogranin A; D002864:Chromogranins / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D011470:Prostatic Hyperplasia / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C506150:CHGA protein, human; D053379:Chromogranin A; D002864:Chromogranins; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen