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Background: Prostate cancer (PCa) racial disparity studies typically focus on survival differences after curative treatment. The authors of this report hypothesized that comparing mortality rates between African American (AA) and Caucasian American (CA) patients who deferred primary treatment for clinically nonmetastatic PCa may provide a better assessment of the impact of race on the natural course of PCa., Methods: The pathology database of the New York Veterans Administration Medical Center (VAMC), an equal access-of-care facility, was searched for patients with biopsy-proven PCa. Inclusion criteria included 1) no evidence of metastatic disease or death within 3 years after diagnosis, 2) no primary treatment, and 3) a minimum of 5 years of follow-up for survivors., Results: In total, 518 patients met inclusion criteria between 1990 and 2005. AA patients were younger (P = .02) and had higher median prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels (P = .001) at the time of diagnosis compared with CA patients. In a multivariate model, higher Gleason score and PSA level were associated with increased mortality (P = .001 and P = .03, respectively), but race was not a predictor of death from PCa., Conclusions: The current data suggested that race did not have a major impact on survival in patients with PCa who deferred primary treatment for clinically nonmetastatic disease., (Copyright © 2011 American Cancer Society.)

Purpose: Persistence of ligand-mediated androgen receptor signaling has been documented in castration-resistant prostate cancers (CRPCs). Abiraterone acetate (AA) is a potent and selective inhibitor of CYP17, which is required for androgen biosynthesis in the testes, adrenal glands, and prostate tissue. This trial evaluated the efficacy and safety of AA in combination with prednisone to reduce the symptoms of secondary hyperaldosteronism that can occur with AA monotherapy., Patients and Methods: Fifty-eight men with progressive metastatic CRPC who experienced treatment failure with docetaxel-based chemotherapy received AA (1,000 mg daily) with prednisone (5 mg twice daily). Twenty-seven (47%) patients had received prior ketoconazole. The primary outcome was > or = 50% prostate-specific antigen (PSA) decline, with objective response by Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) criteria, and changes in Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status (PS) and circulating tumor cell (CTC) numbers. Safety was also evaluated., Results: A > or = 50% decline in PSA was confirmed in 22 (36%) patients, including 14 (45%) of 31 ketoconazole-naïve and seven (26%) of 27 ketoconazole-pretreated patients. Partial responses were seen in four (18%) of 22 patients with RECIST-evaluable target lesions. Improved ECOG PS was seen in 28% of patients. Median time to PSA progression was 169 days (95% CI, 82 to 200 days). CTC conversions with treatment from > or = 5 to < 5 were noted in 10 (34%) of 29 patients. The majority of AA-related adverse events were grade 1 to 2, and no AA-related grade 4 events were seen., Conclusion: AA plus prednisone was well tolerated, with encouraging antitumor activity in heavily pretreated CRPC patients. The incidence of mineralocorticoid-related toxicities (hypertension or hypokalemia) was reduced by adding low-dose prednisone. The combination of AA plus prednisone is recommended for phase III investigations.

Objective: To investigate whether baseline (before treatment) clinical variables and tumour specimen characteristics (including the androgen receptor, AR) from patients with castrate-resistant metastatic prostate cancer can be used to predict the time to prostate cancer-specific mortality and overall survival, as AR levels in prostate cancer have been associated with disease progression, including prostate-specific antigen (PSA) recurrence and systemic metastasis., Patients and Methods: Haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) slides/blocks and outcome data from a 104 castrate patients with metastatic disease (43 prostatectomy and 61 prostate needle biopsy samples), were independently reviewed; H&E morphometry and quantitative immunofluorescence were used to assess the samples. Sections were analysed with a multiplex quantitative immunofluorescence (IF) assay for cytokeratin-18 (epithelial cells), 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (nuclei), p63/high molecular weight keratin (basal cells), AR and alpha-methyl CoA-racemase. Images were acquired with spectral imaging software and processed for quantification with IF algorithms., Results: The median follow-up was 12 years from diagnosis; 49 men (47%) baseline PSA levels of > or = 20 ng/mL, 55 (53%) had a Gleason sum of 8, 63 (60%) died from the disease and 40% were alive (censored). In all, 66 patients had evaluable IF features, and the association with outcome was evaluated by univariate Cox modelling and support-vector regression. PSA was the only clinical variable associated with outcome (concordance index, CoI, 0.41; P < 0.05, log-rank test). The amount of AR present within tumour nuclei (regardless of tissue provenance and primary treatment) significantly correlated with a greater risk of a shorter time to prostate cancer-specific mortality (CoI 0.36; P < 0.05 log-rank test). There were no H&E features that correlated with mortality., Conclusion: By univariate analysis, increased nuclear AR expression in either the diagnostic biopsy and/or radical prostatectomy specimen, from patients with advanced disease, was associated with a reduced time to prostate cancer-specific mortality.

Background: Reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) assays have been used for analysis of circulating tumor cells (CTCs), but their clinical value has yet to be established. We assessed men with localized prostate cancer or castration-refractory prostate cancer (CRPC) for CTCs via real-time RT-PCR assays for KLK3 [kallikrein-related peptidase 3; i.e., prostate-specific antigen (PSA)] and KLK2 mRNAs. We also assessed the association of CTCs with disease characteristics and survival., Methods: KLK3, KLK2, and PSCA (prostate stem cell antigen) mRNAs were measured by standardized, quantitative real-time RT-PCR assays in blood samples from 180 localized-disease patients, 76 metastatic CRPC patients, and 19 healthy volunteers. CRPC samples were also tested for CTCs by an immunomagnetic separation system (CellSearch; Veridex) approved for clinical use., Results: All healthy volunteers were negative for KLK mRNAs. Results of tests for KLK3 or KLK2 mRNAs were positive (> or =80 mRNAs/mL blood) in 37 patients (49%) with CRPC but in only 15 patients (8%) with localized cancer. RT-PCR and CellSearch CTC results were strongly concordant (80%-85%) and correlated (Kendall tau, 0.60-0.68). Among CRPC patients, KLK mRNAs and CellSearch CTCs were closely associated with clinical evidence of bone metastases and with survival but were only modestly correlated with serum PSA concentrations. PSCA mRNA was detected in only 7 CRPC patients (10%) and was associated with a positive KLK mRNA status., Conclusions: Real-time RT-PCR assays of KLK mRNAs are highly concordant with CellSearch CTC results in patients with CRPC. KLK2/3-expressing CTCs are common in men with CRPC and bone metastases but are rare in patients with metastases diagnosed only in soft tissues and patients with localized cancer.