Impact of perioperative factors on nadir serum prostate-specific antigen levels after holmium laser enucleation of prostate

BJUI Compass. 2021 Jan 5;2(3):202-210. doi: 10.1002/bco2.68. eCollection 2021 May.

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the relationship of preoperative prostate size, urinary retention, positive urine culture, and histopathological evidence of prostatitis or incidental prostate cancer on baseline and 3-month nadir prostate-specific antigen (PSA) value after Holmium laser enucleation of prostate (HoLEP).

Patients and methods: Data from 90 patients who underwent a HoLEP by En-bloc technique were analyzed. PSA values at baseline and at 3-month follow-up, preoperative urinary retention and urine culture status, weight of resected tissue, and histopathological evidence of prostatitis or prostate cancer were recorded. We performed univariable and multivariable gamma-regression analyses to determine the impact of the aforementioned perioperative variables on preoperative PSA, 3-month postoperative PSA, and change in PSA.

Results: Serum PSA reduced significantly at 3 months from 6.3 ± 5.9 ng/mL to 0.6 ± 0.6 ng/mL. On both univariable and multivariable analysis, 3-month nadir level was independent of all preoperative factors examined, except preoperative urinary retention status. Although patients with smaller prostate (resected tissue weight <40 g) had less percentile reduction in PSA when compared with those with larger prostate (resected tissue weight >80 g) (77.67% vs 89.06%; P < .001), patients from both these groups noted a similar PSA nadir level after 3 months (0.54 vs 0.56 ng/dL). The drop in PSA level after HoLEP remained stable up to 1-year follow-up.

Conclusions: PSA nadir 3 months after HoLEP remains relatively consistent across patients, regardless of preoperative prostate size, PSA value, urine culture status, and histopathological evidence of prostatitis or incidental prostate cancer.

Keywords: HoLEP; endoscopic enucleation for prostate; laser prostatectomy; prostate cancer screening; serum PSA; transurethral resection of prostate.