title: Predictive value of plasma hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor levels in patients with clinically localized prostate cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF) is a multifunctional cytokine that is involved in cancer growth, motility, invasion, and angiogenesis. We assessed whether preoperative plasma levels of HGF can enhance the accuracy of standard models for predicting pathologic features and clinical outcomes.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study comprised 421 consecutive patients treated with radical prostatectomy and bilateral lymphadenectomy for clinically localized prostatic adenocarcinoma. HGF/SF was measured using a commercially available immunoassay. Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between plasma HGF/SF and pathologic features. Multivariate Cox regression was used to predict disease recurrence. One thousand bootstrap replicates were created for internal validation and predictive accuracies were estimated for each model.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Plasma HGF/SF levels were significantly elevated in patients with lymph node and/or seminal vesicle invasion (P < 0.0001 and P = 0.007, respectively). Preoperative plasma HGF/SF level was an independent predictor of lymph node invasion [odds ratio (OR) for every 100 pg/mL increase in HGF/SF, 1.82; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.33-2.49] and seminal vesicle invasion (OR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.06-1.3). Addition of HGF/SF increased the accuracy of a base model that included standard preoperative variables for prediction of lymph node invasion by 6.7% (predictive accuracy, 98.4%). HGF/SF also independently predicted disease recurrence after surgery (hazard ratio, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.0-1.15).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Preoperative plasma level of HGF/SF is an independent predictor of prostate cancer metastasis to lymph nodes and disease recurrence after surgery. Use of HGF may help in therapeutic decision-making and enrollment into clinical trials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390-9110, USA.
authors.forename: Amit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: Pierre I
authors.initials: PI
authors.lastname: Karakiewicz
authors.forename: Claus G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Roehrborn
authors.forename: Yair
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lotan
authors.forename: Alexandre R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Zlotta
authors.forename: Shahrokh F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Shariat
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay; D008197:Lymph Node Excision; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D011468:Prostatectomy; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor