The routine use of prostate-specific antigen for early detection of cancer prostate in India: Is it justified?

A Glimpse into the Epidemiology of Geriatric Cancers in India: Report from the Indian Population Based Cancer Registries

INTRODUCTION

Indian population is aging and the cancer rates are rising.  Older adults (OAs)(≥60 years) with cancer require specialized care.  However, data on geriatric cancer epidemiology is scarce.

METHODS

The study compiled the geriatric cancer data from the published reports(2012-2014) of Indian population-based cancer registries(PBCRs).

RESULTS

Of the 1,61,363 cancers registered in the Indian PBCRs, 72,446(44.9%) occur in OAs, with  21,805(30.1%), 18,349(25.3%), 14,645(20.2%), and 17,647(24.4%) occurring in 60-64, 65-69, 70-74, and ≥75year age groups.  The truncated incidence rates for OAs are 555.9,404.5, and 481.9 for males, females, and OA populations respectively.  The common cancers are lung, prostate, and esophagus cancers in males, breast, cervix, and lung in females.  The overall common cancers are lung, prostate, and breast.  While  >50% of the incident cases of prostate, and bladder cancers occurred in OAs, <20% of Hodgkin lymphoma and thyroid cancers occurred in OAs. OA cancer epidemiology has a regional variation, highest in South India and lowest in Western India.

CONCLUSION

The current study quantifies the cancer burden in the Indian geriatric population. Understanding the epidemiology of geriatric cancers is vital to health program planning and implementation. Increased awareness, focused resource allocation, research, and national policies for streamlining care will all help to improve geriatric cancer outcomes.

Hypoehoic lesions on Transrectal Ultrasound and its correlation to Gleason grade in the diagnosis of Clinically Significant Prostate Cancer: A Prospective Study

Context The importance of hypoechoic lesions on transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) merits re-assessment in the present era of widespread prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing.

Aims We aimed to investigate the predictive accuracy of hypoechoic lesions on TRUS of prostate in the diagnosis of prostate cancer and to examine the association of hypoechoic lesions with the aggressiveness of prostate cancer.

Settings and Design This prospective study was conducted in a tertiary care center in South India from November 2017 to December 2019.

Methods and Material We included 151 patients undergoing TRUS-guided 12-core prostate biopsy in view of raised serum PSA with or without suspicious digital rectal examination (DRE) findings in the study. Age, DRE findings, serum PSA level, TRUS findings, and histopathology reports were documented. These were compared between patients with and without hypoechoic lesions on TRUS.

Statistical Analysis Used The statistical analysis for this study was performed using SPSS v20.0 software.

Results Among 151 men, prostate cancer was diagnosed in 68 (45.03%) with mean age at presentation 69.81 ± 6.49 years. Fifty-eight cases (38.41%) had hypoechoic lesion on TRUS and the cancer detection rate (68.96%) amongst this group was significantly higher than in those without hypoechoic lesion ( p <0.0001). Patients with hypoechoic lesion were more likely to have higher grade cancer. Abnormal DRE findings and hypoechoic lesion on TRUS were independent predictors of a clinically significant cancer ( p <0.05).

Conclusion Hypoechoic lesion on TRUS can be considered as an indicator of clinically significant prostate cancer.

Prostate-specific antigen screening of men with lower urinary tract symptoms (opportunistic screening) and of asymptomatic men undergoing executive health check: an audit from two institutions

Introduction:

We evaluated incidence ofprostate-specific antigen (PSA) positivity (>4ng/mL) and cancer detection rate on prostate biopsy in two populations of men, one undergoing opportunistic testing for lower urinary tract symptoms and another during routine health checks.

Methods:

Data regarding PSA screening, rectal examination (RE), transrectal ultrasound-guided biopsy, clinical stage, and risk assessment grouping according to NCCN guidelines were studied. Group A included patients with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) (opportunistic screening) at SGPGIMS, Lucknow and Group B included healthy men who had executive health check-up with PSA testing at Medanta the Medicity, Gurugram.

Results:

PSA positivity rate in 9906 symptomatic men for LUTS (Group A) and 24919 healthy men (Group B) was 28.4% and 3% respectively. In group A, PSA positivity rate was 28.4% but only around half of all men with an indication underwent a biopsy. Among men with PSA of 4–10 ng/mL, cancer was detected in 93 of 241 who underwent a biopsy (38.5%). In Group B, only 69 men (9.3% of those with an elevated PSA) underwent a prostate biopsy, of which 38/57 (with PSA of 4–10 had cancer. In Group A, the cancers was metastatic in 61.5% men, while none in-Group B had metastatic disease.

Conclusion:

Opportunistic screening and executive health check with PSA identifies a significant number of men with PSA positivity and may help decrease the proportion of men diagnosed in metastatic prostate cancer.

TRUS Biopsy Yield in Indian Population: A Retrospective Analysis

INTRODUCTION

The reported cancer detection rate of Trans-Rectal Ultrasonography (TRUS) biopsies (TRUS biopsy yield) has been around 30 percent in western countries. However it is much lower in Asian countries, including India. Hence a larger proportion of patients in India undergo unnecessary biopsies.

AIMS

To find out the cancer detection rate of TRUS biopsy (TRUS biopsy yield) in contemporary Indian population. Also, to study the positive predictive values at different serum Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA)/PSA Density (PSAD) cut off levels and suspicious Digital Rectal Examination (DRE) findings.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This retrospective study was carried out in a tertiary care institute. All symptomatic patients who underwent TRUS guided biopsy for indication of raised serum PSA level (>4 ng/ml) or suspicious DRE findings (nodule, irregularity, hard consistency, immobile rectal mucosa) from January 2012 to December 2014 were included. For serum PSA range (4-10) ng/ml, TRUS guided biopsy was done in patients with percent free/total PSA < 25. Statistical analysis used were Chi-square test, Mann-Whitney U-test, Spearman's rank correlation analysis and Receiver-Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve.

RESULTS

Out of the 235 patients included, 60 patients had malignancy (overall cancer detection rate= 25.53%). The cancer detection rate for PSA ranges of (4-10) and (10-20) ng/ml was as low as 5.95% and 13.16% respectively. Patients with malignant disease had significantly smaller prostate gland size than patients with benign disease (53.89 vs 63.06; p-value <0.05). On the other hand, cancer detection rate was 100% for PSA greater than 50ng/ml. The cancer detection rates were only upto 10% for PSA density ranges upto 0.25 ng/ml/cm³. The Area Under the Curve (AUC) for PSA and PSAD was 0.876 and 0.884 respectively. Only one patient (0.43%) had post-biopsy complication (acute bacterial prostatitis) requiring hospital admission.

CONCLUSION

The current serum PSA and PSAD cut offs of 4 ng/ml and 0.15 ng/ml/cm³ need to be raised for Indian population to increase its positive predictive value. Prospective study validation of this finding is lacking.

Demography and disease characteristics of prostate cancer in India

Introduction:

The incidence of prostate cancer has shown significant variation across the globe. Though the prevalence and characteristics of this disease have been extensively studied in many countries, data regarding the true incidence of prostate cancer in India is limited.

Materials and Methods:

MEDLINE publications from 1990 to 2014 were searched and reviewed and compiled to assess the demographic profile of prostate cancer in India and characteristics unique to this disease in India.

Results:

The limited data available on prostate cancer showed significant differences in incidence, precipitating factors, and disease characteristics of prostate cancer in India.

Conclusions:

Since India would be having more number of cases of prostate cancer than most others in the years to come, adequate population-based data regarding the demography and disease characteristics of this disease are of paramount importance in this country.

The value of prostate-specific antigen in Asia

One of the most important diagnostic tools used to detect prostate cancer is prostate-specific antigen (PSA), yet increased PSA alone does not reflect the presence of prostate cancer. Other pathological prostatic conditions such as prostatitis and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) may also increase the level of PSA. However, unlike in other prostate diseases, PSA has a key role in the diagnosis and management of prostate cancer. The incidence of prostate cancer varies from country to country, with the highest incidence being found in the Western world and the lowest in Asian countries. Owing to the low incidence of prostate cancer, there could be different views regarding the use of PSA in Asian countries, especially for the early detection/screening of prostate cancer. The purpose of this article is to review the use and value of PSA in the diagnosis of prostate diseases (especially prostate cancer) in Asian countries/populations. A literature search was performed in 'MEDLINE' (PubMed) and Google Scholar using main keywords such as 'PSA', 'PSA usage', 'PSA sensitivity and specificity', 'Asia', and various countries in Asia. Articles that provide population/community-based PSA data, together with the characteristics, distribution, and indications for PSA testing in the respective countries, were selected. Eleven papers were finally selected for inclusion in this review. Five studies found that PSA, by its 95th percentile value, have an age-referenced tendency in Asian males, similarly to the West. The predictive values of PSA in detecting prostate cancer are also quite similar to those in Western countries. With the exponential growth of the aging population in the world, especially in Asia, the incidence of prostate cancer will follow this upward trend. Therefore, PSA testing for screening or diagnostic purposes would increase with time in Asia.

Polymorphisms in the AR and PSA genes as markers of susceptibility and aggressiveness in prostate cancer

The study of genes involved in androgen pathway can contribute to a better knowledge of prostate cancer. Our aim was to examine if polymorphisms in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and androgen receptor (AR) genes were involved in prostate cancer risk and aggressiveness. Genotypes were determined by PCR-RFLP (PSA) or using a 377 ABI DNA Sequencer (AR). PSA(G/G) genotype (OR = 1.78, 95% CI = 1.06–2.99) and AR short CAG repeats (OR = 1.89, 95% CI = 1.21–2.96) increased risk for prostate cancer and were related with tumor aggressiveness. About 38.3% of tumors showed microsatellite instability. In conclusion, polymorphisms in these genes may be indicated as potential biomarkers for prostate cancer.