Therapieinduzierte Tumorregression des Prostatakarzinoms

Prognostic Significance of Disseminated Tumor Cells in the Bone Marrow of Prostate Cancer Patients Treated With Neoadjuvant Hormone Treatment

Purpose

To explore whether the presence of occult disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) in the bone marrow before neoadjuvant hormone therapy influences the prognosis of patients with organ confined prostate cancer treated by radical prostatectomy.

Patients and Methods

Pretreatment bone marrow aspirates from 193 cT (1-4) pN0M0 prostate cancer patients submitted to neoadjuvant hormone therapy (mean, 8 months) followed by radical prostatectomy were immunohistochemically evaluated by anticytokeratin antibody A45-B/B3 previously validated for the detection of DTCs. Bone marrow status was compared with established clinical and histopathologic risk parameters. Patients’ outcome was evaluated using prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood serum measurements as surrogate marker for recurrence over a median follow-up of 44 months.

Results

DTCs were detected in 44.6% of patients. Bone marrow status neither correlated with tumor grade and stage, nor with the pretreatment PSA risk category (all P values > .05). In the univariate Kaplan-Meier analysis, the presence of DTCs was a significant prognostic factor with respect to poor PSA progression-free survival (log-rank test P = .0035). Using a multivariable piecewise Cox regression model, the presence of DTCs was an independent predictor of PSA relapse (relative risk 1.82; P = .014).

Conclusion

The presence of DTCs in the bone marrow of patients with prostate cancer before neoadjuvant hormone therapy and subsequent surgery represents an independent prognostic parameter, suggesting that DTCs may contribute to the failure of current neoadjuvant hormone therapy regimens.

[Regressive changes after short-term neoadjuvant antihormonal therapy in prostatic carcinoma: the value of Gleason grading]

Although neoadjuvant, antihormonal therapy does not lead to an improvement in the outcome of prostatic carcinoma it is still used in the short-term in a subset of patients. Here we report the regressive changes due to this short-term treatment and analyse the impact on Gleason grading. The most frequent regressive changes in 82 tumors treated short-term were determined and quantified. The results were compared to a matched control group and also to the preoperative needle biopsies.A steep increase in regressive changes was observed within the first 4 weeks. After this point, changes increased only mildly. Within the first 2 weeks of treatment no significant changes compared to control tissue were present. Compared to the preoperative needle biopsies, pretreated tumors showed a significant upgrading. After 2 weeks of neoadjuvant antihormonal therapy, regressive changes are so great, that Gleason grading can no longer be recommended.