Korean J Urol.  2006 Apr;47(4):362-367. 10.4111/kju.2006.47.4.362.

Free PSA and the Free PSA to Total PSA Ratio as a Predictor of Response to Hormone Treatment for Metastatic Prostate Cancer

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Urology, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

PURPOSE
In this study we analyzed the changes of fPSA and f-PSA% and its prognostic significance in course of hormone treatment for metastatic prostate cancer.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
We retrospectively analyzed 75 patients with metastatic prostate cancer who received maximal androgen deprivation therapy and in whom the fPSA and f-PSA% had been serially checked for at least 1 year. The patients were divided into two groups: those patients with biological recurrence within 1 year, and those patients showing sensitivity to hormone therapy for longer than one year. Changes of the fPSA and f-PSA% in each group were analyzed in correlation with such prognostic factors as the PSA level and the Gleason sum.
RESULTS
The initial PSA levels in each group were 508.0+/-331.4ng/ml and 39.8+/-7.6ng/ml, respectively and the fPSA levels were 59.4+/-19.4ng/ml and 6.7+/-4.1ng/ml, respectively; the group with early biological recurrence had significantly higher intial PSA and fPSA levels. The initial f-PSA% was relatively lower in the patients with early recurrence (0.123+/-0.41 vs 0.159+/-0.37, respectively), but the difference was not statistically significant. The PSA nadir and the fPSA nadir in the early recurrence group were 6.1 10.1ng/ml and 0.89 3.9ng/ml, respectively, and these were significantly higher compared to those values of the hormone sensitive group, i.e., 2.4+/-8.4ng/ml and 0.41+/-0.2ng/ml, respectively. In the early recurrence group, the f-PSA% changed from 0.123 to 0.092 and it gradually decreased during treatment. On the contrary, in the hormone sensitive group, the f-PSA% continuously increased during treatment, from 0.159 to 0.172. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that fPSA and f-PSA% are influenced by hormone treatment and the pattern of changes in the fPSA and f-PSA% are different according to the responsiveness to hormone treatment.

Keyword

Prostate-specific antigen; Prostate cancer; Hormone replacement therapy

MeSH Terms

Hormone Replacement Therapy
Humans
Prostate*
Prostate-Specific Antigen
Prostatic Neoplasms*
Recurrence
Retrospective Studies
Prostate-Specific Antigen

Reference

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