title: Low serum dehydroepiandrosterone examined by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry correlates with poor prognosis in hormone-naïve prostate cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is no consensus on blood adrenal androgen concentrations in men with different stages and pathological grades of prostate cancer. In this study, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) concentrations in blood were examined by ultrasensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). We analyzed the correlation between DHEA concentrations in blood and clinicopathological findings of prostate cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed 196 men (mean age 70 years) with prostate cancer. The patients underwent systematic needle biopsy, and peripheral blood sampling was conducted for measurement of DHEA. DHEA concentrations in blood were determined using LC-MS/MS method. Patient age, serum prostate-specific antigen, prostate volume measured by ultrasound, and DHEA levels in blood were compared with Gleason score and clinical stage by multivariate analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Median value of PSA and prostate volume were 11.5 ng/ml and 27.7 ml, respectively. Median concentration of DHEA in blood was 1,506.4 pg/ml. There was no correlation between serum DHEA and clinical variables such as age, serum PSA, and prostate volume. In multivariate analysis, low serum DHEA levels in prostate cancer patients were significantly related to high Gleason score and advanced clinical stage. Serum PSA levels in prostate cancer patients were also significantly associated with high Gleason score and advanced clinical stage. High serum PSA and low serum DHEA levels were significantly associated with poor prognosis factors in men with hormone-naïve prostate cancer.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  DHEA concentrations in blood were examined by newly developed ultrasensitive LC-MS/MS. We confirmed that low serum DHEA levels in prostate cancer patients were related to high Gleason score and advanced clinical stage. These results suggest that serum DHEA level may be a useful prognostic factor in prostate cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama, Japan.|Department of Urology and Renal Transplantation, Yokohama City University Medical Center, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuhide
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miyoshi
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama, Japan.|Department of Urology and Renal Transplantation, Yokohama City University Medical Center, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroji
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Uemura
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Susumu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Umemoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Yokohama City University, Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Kentaro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sakamaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology and Renal Transplantation, Yokohama City University Medical Center, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Masataka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Taguri
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shibata
authors.affiliation: Department of Urologic Surgery and Andrology, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan.
authors.forename: Naoya
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Masumori
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomohiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ichikawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Cancer Therapy and Urology, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mizokami
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephro-Urologic Surgery and Andrology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshiki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sugimura
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Norio
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nonomura
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephro-Urology, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sakai
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical Research, ASKA Pharma Medical Co. Ltd., Kawasaki, Japan.
authors.forename: Seijiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Honma
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology and Pathology, Kanagawa Cancer Center, Asahi-ku, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Masaoki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Harada
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshinobu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kubota
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization / Q000379:methods; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D014463:Ultrasonography
chemical_list: D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen
keywords: dehydroepiandrosterone; liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry; prognostic factor