Abstract

BACKGROUND: Sarcosine is reported to be a differential metabolite that is greatly increased during prostate cancer (PCa) progression. In this study, we assessed the role of serum sarcosine as a biomarker for PCa, as well as any association between sarcosine levels and clinical-pathological parameters. METHODS: Sarcosine was measured by fluorometric assay in serum samples from 290 PCa patients and 312 patients with no evidence of malignancy (NEM), confirmed by 8-12 core prostate biopsies. Nonparametric statistical tests and receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analyses were performed to assess the diagnostic performance of sarcosine in different (prostate-specific antigen) PSA ranges. RESULTS: ROC analyses in subjects with PSA < 4 ng/ml showed a higher predictive value of sarcosine (AUC = 0.668) versus total PSA (AUC = 0.535) (P = 0.03), whereas for the other two PSA ranges (4-10 ng/ml and >10 ng/ml), percent ratio of free to total PSA (%fPSA) showed a predictive superiority over sarcosine. Moreover, in patients with a PSA < 4 ng/ml, the percentage of low/intermediate-grade cancers was positively associated with sarcosine levels (P = 0.005). The specificities for serum sarcosine, %fPSA, PSA, and the logistic regression model at 95% sensitivity were 24.4, 3.41, 2.22, and 28.4%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We provide evidence that serum sarcosine has a higher predictive value than tPSA and %fPSA in patients with PSA < 4 ng/ml. Moreover, sarcosine levels were significantly different in low grade versus high grade cancers in this subset of patients, suggesting that this marker may be a further tool not only for diagnosing PCa in normal PSA and abnormal DRE/TRUS patients but also for selecting candidates for non-aggressive therapies and active surveillance.

Autore Pugliese

• Bettocchi Carlo , Germinario Cinzia Annatea , Fanelli Margherita , Battaglia Michele , Ditonno Pasquale

Tutti gli autori

• BETTOCCHI C.;GERMINARIO C.A.;LUCARELLI G.;FANELLI M.;BATTAGLIA M.;RUTIGLIANO M.;DITONNO P.

Titolo volume/Rivista

Non Disponibile

Anno di pubblicazione

2012

ISSN

0270-4137

ISBN

Non Disponibile

Numero di citazioni Wos

Nessuna citazione

Ultimo Aggiornamento Citazioni

Non Disponibile

Numero di citazioni Scopus

51

Ultimo Aggiornamento Citazioni

Non Disponibile

Settori ERC

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Codici ASJC

Non Disponibile