title: Prognostic value of inflammation in prostate cancer progression and response to therapeutic: a critical review.
abstract: Prostate is an immune-competent organ normally populated by inflammatory cells. Prostatic inflammation origin can be multi-factorial and there are some emerging evidences on its possible role as a factor involved in prostate cancer (PC) pathogenesis and progression. This review critically analyzes the role of inflammation as a prognostic factor for progression and aggressiveness of PC. We verified the last 10 years literature data on the association between inflammation and PC aggressiveness, or PC response to therapies. Several studies tried to correlate different inflammatory factors with the aggressiveness and metastatization of PC; all data sustain the role of inflammation in PC progression but they also produce confusion to identify a reliable clinical prognostic marker. Data on patients submitted to radical prostatectomy (RP) showed that cases with marked intraprostatic tissue inflammation are associated with higher rate of biochemical progression; systemic inflammation markers appear to have a significant prognostic value. Analyzing data on patients submitted to radiotherapy (RT) emerges a significant association between high neuthrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and decreased progression free survival and overall survival; also plateled to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) have been proposed as significant prognostic factors for progression and overall survival. In patients submitted to androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), inflammation may drive castration resistant PC (CRPC) development by activation of STAT3 in PC cells. NLR has been proposed as independent predictor of overall survival in CRPC submitted to chemotherapy. Most of data are focused on markers related to systemic inflammation such as NLR and CRP, more than specifically to chronic prostatic inflammation. The suggestion is that these inflammatory parameters, also if not specific for prostatic inflammation and possibly influenced by several factors other than PC, can integrate with established prognostic factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, University Sapienza of Rome, Rome, Italy ; Department of Urological science, University Sapienza, Viale Policlinico 155, 00161 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sciarra
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, University Sapienza of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gentilucci
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, University Sapienza of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Salciccia
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, University Sapienza of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pierella
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, University Sapienza of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Flavio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Del Bianco
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, University Sapienza of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gentile
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine, University Sapienza of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Ida
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Silvestri
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, University Sapienza of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Susanna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cattarino
keywords: Hormone therapy; Inflammation; Prostate neoplasm; Radical prostatectomy; Radiotherapy