Serum Biochemical Index: Potential Prognostic Tool in Prostate Cancer

By: Joshua D. Madera, MD
Posted: Wednesday, November 8, 2023

For patients with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels between 4 and 20 ng/mL, use of the biochemical serum index may have predictive abilities for determining the risk of prostate cancer, according to a study published in Frontiers in Endocrinology. Specifically, the biomarker serum sialic acid may be effective in predicting patients at risk for developing prostate carcinoma, suggested Jingtao Sun and Lei Yan, MD, PhD, of Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, China, and colleagues.

“It is possible that in real clinical practice, [these findings] will help prevent unnecessary biopsies and biopsy-related morbidities,” the authors proposed.

From 2015 to 2022, 408 patients who underwent prostate biopsies were analyzed retrospectively. All patients were required to have PSA levels between 4 and 20 ng/mL. Patients were stratified based on whether they had clinically significant prostate cancer, as defined by a Gleason grade of at least 2 (n = 271), or no evidence of prostate cancer (n = 137). Serum biochemical index analyses were conducted on all patients to assess alkaline phosphatase, lactate dehydrogenase, alpha-L-fucosidase, serum sialic acid, and fibrinogen levels.

The study authors found elevated total PSA levels in patients with clinically significant prostate cancer compared with those without clinically significant disease. A univariate logistic regression analysis did not reveal any significant difference between these two groups. However, using a multivariable logistic regression analysis, the authors reported the biochemical markers were found to be elevated in patients with clinically significant prostate cancer. Moreover, serum sialic acid total PSA levels were identified as potentially strong predictors of clinically significant prostate cancer, the investigators noted, whereas the other biomarkers did not exhibit this same predictive efficacy.

Disclosure: The study authors reported no conflicts of interest.

Frontiers in Endocrinology

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