| Objectives:This study was to investigate the relationship between EPCA with prostate carcinomas,and to explore whether preoperative serum EPCA levels predicted the presence of incidental prostate carcinomas in patients undergoing transurethral resection of the prostate for benign prostate hyperplasia.Methods:Total RNA was extracted from prostate carcinomas tissues,benign prostatic hyperplasia tissues and normal prostate tissues. Reverse transcript and amplify EPCA by specific primers. Identify the expression of EPCA by the specific strands.Serum EPCA levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 198 consecutive patients with Lower Urinary Tract symptomatic benign prostate hyperplasia treated with transurethral resection of the prostate and 31 prostate carcinomas patients and 26 healthy men.Predictive performance of serum EPCA levels for incidental prostate carcinomas were evaluated.Results:34 in 41 prostate Carcinomas tissues express EPCA. While no benign prostatic hyperplasia tissues and normal prostate tissues express EPCA.With a cutoff of 10 ng/ml, serum EPCA protein had a 93.4% specificity and a 77.8% sensitivity in separating men with incidental prostate carcinomas from those without.Serum EPCA levels in patients with incidental prostate carcinomas and prostate carcinomas were significantly higher than in those without and in healthy controls (21.15±8.61 ng/ml and 19.35±7.86 ng/ml vs.4.71±3.05 ng/ml and 3.96±2.41 ng/ml,, all P<0.001), whereas an indwelling transurethral catheter presence and 5a-reductase inhibitor therapy had no effect on EPCA levels (P=0.179 and P=0.265, respectively).These data suggested that EPCA might be a stable and reliable marker in the serum.Conclusions:This study shows that EPCA might be used as a highly sensitive and specific serum biomarker to predict incidental prostate carcinomas presence and to help reduce the unnecessary biopsies taken before transurethral resection of the prostate in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia. |
PDF Full Text Request