title: Medical Manuscript: Serum Total Testosterone as a Prognostic Indicator in Male Patients With Terminal Cancer.
abstract: The role of total serum testosterone in the prognosis of terminal cancer is unclear. We retrospectively investigated the total serum testosterone level in 69 male patients with terminal cancer in a palliative care unit. The association between the serum testosterone level and survival was assessed using Cox proportional hazard model. The median value of serum total testosterone was 44.5 ng/dL, far lower than previously reported in patients with advanced cancer. Multivariate analysis revealed thrombocytopenia (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 2.68), hypoalbuminemia (aHR, 2.02), azotemia (aHR, 2.67), and lower serum testosterone level (aHR, 2.03) were significantly negatively prognostic of survival. Lower serum testosterone level was an independent unfavorable prognostic factor for life expectancy in male patients with terminal cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Gachon University School of Medicine, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Se Won
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Gachon University Gil Medical Center, Incheon, Republic of Korea spfe0211@gmail.com.
authors.forename: In Cheol
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology and Oncology, Gachon University Gil Medical Center, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hee Kyung
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.affiliation: Division of Pulmonology, Department of Internal Medicine, Gachon University Gil Medical Center, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sun Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Kyung
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, Dongguk University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hong Yup
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Ahn
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality*; D010166:Palliative Care; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D013739:Testosterone
keywords: palliative care; prognostication; serum testosterone