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The following is a summary of “Pretreatment prostate-specific antigen density as a predictor of biochemical recurrence in patients with prostate cancer: a meta-analysis,” published in the March 2024 issue of Oncology by Cui et al.
The predictive value of prostate-specific antigen density (PSAD) in anticipating biochemical recurrence following primary treatment for prostate cancer remains an area of ongoing debate within the medical community. This meta-analysis sought to elucidate the relationship between pretreatment PSAD levels and the likelihood of biochemical recurrence post-primary treatment, encompassing radical prostatectomy or radiotherapy.
Two authors conducted systematic searches across PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase databases up to September 10, 2023, yielding nine eligible studies comprising 4963 patients. The prevalence of biochemical recurrence across these studies ranged from 4% to 55.1%. Aggregating the data, the meta-analysis revealed that patients with higher PSAD levels exhibited a significantly elevated risk of biochemical recurrence compared to those with lower PSAD levels, with a pooled hazard ratio (HR) of 1.59 (95% CI 1.21–2.10).
Further subgroup analysis delineated distinct outcomes based on the primary treatment modality, indicating a more pronounced association between elevated PSAD and biochemical recurrence following radical prostatectomy (pooled HR: 1.80, 95% CI 1.34–2.42), whereas this association was not significant for patients treated with radiotherapy (pooled HR: 0.98, 95% CI 0.66–1.45). These findings underscore the potential utility of pretreatment PSAD assessment as an independent predictor for biochemical recurrence, specifically in patients undergoing radical prostatectomy.
Furthermore, integrating PSAD measurement into prognostic algorithms may enhance the precision of biochemical recurrence prediction in prostate cancer patients, facilitating more informed clinical decision-making and personalized management strategies.
Source: bmccancer.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12885-024-12029-8