Predictive value of PCA3 in urinary sediments in determining clinico-pathological characteristics of prostate cancer.
OBJECTIVE
PCA3 urine tests have shown to improve the specificity in prostate cancer (PCa) diagnosis, and have thus the potential to reduce the number of unnecessary prostate biopsies and to predict repeat biopsy outcomes. In this study, PCA3 was correlated with clinical stage, biopsy Gleason score (GS), radical prostatectomy GS, tumor volume, and pathological stage to assess its potential as predictor of PCa aggressiveness.


METHODS
In this study, 351 men admitted for prostate biopsies based on serum PSA levels >3 ng/ml, an abnormal DRE, and/or a family history of PCa were included. Post-DRE urinary sediments from 336 men were tested using a transcription-mediated amplification-based PCA3 test, and assay results were correlated with clinical stage and biopsy GS. In a sub-cohort of 70 men who underwent radical prostatectomy, the PCA3 values were correlated to their radical prostatectomy GS, tumor volume, and pathological stage.


RESULTS
In this patient cohort we could not find a correlation between clinical stage, biopsy GS, radical prostatectomy GS, tumor volume, and pathological stage.


CONCLUSIONS
The predictive value of PCA3 for PCa aggressiveness features as reported in earlier studies cannot be confirmed in our study. Experimental differences (urine sediments vs. whole urine) and cohort may explain this. The exact place of PCA3 as prognostic test for PCa remains the subject of investigation.
Hessels
Daphne
D
Department of Urology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
van Gils
Martijn P M Q
MP
van Hooij
Onno
O
Jannink
Sander A
SA
Witjes
J Alfred
JA
Verhaegh
Gerald W
GW
Schalken
Jack A
JA
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000652:urine*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000652:urine*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery / Q000652:urine*; D016482:Urinalysis
D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C479341:prostate cancer antigen 3, human