Prostein expression on circulating tumor cells as a prognostic marker in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Publication/Presentation Date

6-1-2024

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Identification of emerging molecular biomarkers on circulating tumor cells (CTCs) represents an attractive feature of liquid biopsy that facilitates precision and tailored medicine in the management of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Prostein is an androgen-regulated transmembrane protein with high prostate specificity. Prostein-positive circulating tumor cell (CTC) was recently suggested to have diagnostic potential; however, no study has been conducted to evaluate its prognostic value in mCRPC.

METHODS: CTCs from mCRPC patients were enumerated using the CellSearch System. Prostein-positive CTCs were identified by immunostaining results. The relationships between prostein expression on CTCs and PSA response rate, PSA progression-free survival (PSA-PFS), radiographic progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) were tested by Fisher's exact test or evaluated using Kaplan-Meier and multivariate Cox analyses.

RESULTS: Prostein-positive CTCs were identified in 31 of 87 baseline samples from mCRPC patients and 16 of 51 samples collected at the first follow-up visit. PSA response rates were significantly lower in baseline prostein-positive patients (0%, 0/31) than in prostein-negative patients (19.6%, 11/56) (p = 0.007). The 31 prostein-positive patients had significantly shorter PSA-PFS (p <  0.001), radiographic PFS (p <  0.001), and OS (p = 0.018), compared to the 56 prostein-negative patients at baseline. The association with PSA-PFS maintained its significance (p = 0.028) in multivariate analyses. Analyzing prostein expression at the first follow-up as well as the conversion of prostein expression from baseline to follow-up samples not only confirmed the association with PSA-PFS, but also demonstrated prognostic significance with OS.

CONCLUSION: Our study provides the first evidence to support the potential of prostein expression on CTCs to serve as a novel prognostic marker in mCRPC patients. Future large-scale prospective studies are needed to validate our findings.

Volume

27

Issue

2

First Page

339

Last Page

347

ISSN

1476-5608

Disciplines

Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Health and Medical Administration | Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods

PubMedID

38057610

Department(s)

Administration and Leadership

Document Type

Article

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