Potential value of Prostate Cancer Antigen 3 score in prediction of final cancer pathology parameters in radical prostatectomy patients

Abstract

Background:

To evaluate the potential capability of preoperative urinary Prostate Cancer Antigen 3 (PCA3) in predicting adverse pathologic features in patients with any- risk prostate cancer undergoing open retro-pubic radical prostatectomy.

Methods:

Sixty-one biopsy-proven, clinically localized prostate cancer patients who underwent open radical prostatectomy were included in a prospectively designed cohort to evaluate the association of PCA3 score with various Adverse Pathologic Features (APF). The Area Under the Curve (AUC) of the Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) curve was used to quantify the predictive accuracy of PCA3 and a cut-off point was calculated to determine the predictability potential of PCA3 in foretelling the study parameters.

Results:

Patients with APFs (e.g. extra-capsular extension, higher tumor volume, etc.) had a higher mean level of PCA3 compared to patients without these features, with statistically significant differences. PCA3 was a significant predictor of any APFs except perineural invasion in our study cohort.

Conclusion:

Increasing PCA3 level was associated with any APFs except perineural invasion in our study, which comprised mostly of intermediate and high-risk prostate cancer patients. Therefore, PCA3 could be used as an adjunctive measure in selecting patients for definitive treatments.