Role of Positive Biopsy Core Ratio in Prostate Cancer Patients

Abstract

Background/aim: The percentage of positive cores (PPC) is increasingly recognized as a prognostic factor in prostate cancer. However, the usefulness of PPC for patients undergoing androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) and high-risk group has not been adequately studied.

Patients and methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted of 255 patients who underwent prostate biopsy (all-case group). We examined the efficacy of PPC as a prognostic biomarker.

Results: Eighty-nine patients were treated with ADT alone (ADT group), and 107 patients were classified as high-risk (high-risk group). The median duration of follow-up was 112.4 months, 85.3 months, and 110.0 months for the all-case, ADT, and high-risk groups, respectively. Patients with PPC >60% had significantly shorter prostate cancer-specific survival (CSS) and castration-resistant prostate cancer-free survival (CFS) in the all-case and ADT groups. In the high-risk group, patients with PPC >60% had shorter CFS but no difference in CSS. Multivariate analysis showed that significant independent predictors of prostate CSS were the presence of metastasis at diagnosis and PPC >60% in the all-case and ADT groups.

Conclusion: PPC may be a prognostic factor in ADT treated and high-risk prostate patients.

Keywords: Androgen-deprivation therapy; positive biopsy core; prostate biopsy; prostate cancer.