Background/aim: Pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) plays a protective role against oxidative stress. Levels of circulating PEDF have not been examined in patients with prostate cancer. We examined whether PEDF can be used to predict the clinical features of prostate cancer prior to therapy.
Materials and methods: Two hundred patients with an abnormal serum level of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) who underwent biopsy between 2008 and 2011 were identified for retrospective analysis. We determined the relationship of the PEDF level to clinical parameters of prostate cancer. We measured levels of PEDF and 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) in all 200 patients, 100 of whom had histologically-confirmed prostate cancer at the outset. We also investigated the PEDF expression in prostate cancer tissues by immunohistochemistry.
Results: The PEDF level was significantly higher in patients with prostate cancer than in those without. Statistical analysis confirmed that PEDF was significant, positively associated with pathological grading (Gleason score). However, PEDF expression was only detected in few prostate cancer cells by immunohistochemistry. Levels of the oxidative marker, 8-OHdG, in patients with prostate cancer are higher than in those without cancer.
Conclusion: Preoperative PEDF measurement in patients with prostate cancer may provide clinically relevant information regarding the pathological grade of tumor.
Keywords: Gleason score; PEDF; Prostate cancer.
Copyright© 2015 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved.