title: Absence of relationship between steroid hormone levels and prostate cancer tumor grade.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyze the relationship between plasma testosterone and estradiol levels on prostate biopsy and radical prostatectomy Gleason scores in a cohort of patients with newly diagnosed prostate cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with prostate cancer evaluated at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute from 2001 to 2005 who were enrolled in a prospective sample banking protocol were eligible for this study. Stored plasma was processed for total testosterone, total estradiol, and sex hormone-binding globulin levels using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. The frequency of high-grade biopsy and radical prostatectomy Gleason scores (>6) was the primary endpoint. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the relationship between the hormone levels and high-grade Gleason scores while adjusting for sex hormone-binding globulin, age, body mass index, and prostate-specific antigen.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 539 patients were included in this study, 199 of whom underwent radical prostatectomy. The median prostate-specific antigen level was 5.1 ng/dL, and 67% of the cancers were not palpable. The Gleason score was 2-6, 7, and 8-10 in 53%, 37%, and 10% of the cancers, respectively. On univariate analysis of the high-grade biopsy and radical prostatectomy Gleason score, the total testosterone, total estradiol, and estradiol-to-testosterone ratio were not significant as continuous or categorical variables. Adjusting these results for sex hormone-binding globulin level, body mass index, age, and prostate-specific antigen level did not change the conclusions, and these results were unchanged when categorizing high-grade prostate cancer as Gleason score 8-10.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  No relationship was found between the circulating steroid hormone levels and the Gleason score in this cohort.
authors.affiliation: Harvard Radiation Oncology Program, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Sher
authors.forename: Christos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mantzoros
authors.forename: Susanna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jacobus
authors.forename: Meredith M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Regan
authors.forename: Gwo-Shu
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: William K
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Oh
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001706:Biopsy; D004958:Estradiol / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology*; D012738:Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin / Q000032:analysis*; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D012738:Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin; D013739:Testosterone; D004958:Estradiol