Deguchi T, Yang M, Ehara H, Ito S, Nishino Y, Takahashi Y, Ito Y, Shimokawa K, Tanaka T, Imaeda T, Doi T, Kawada Y. Detection of micrometastatic prostate cancer cells in the bone marrow of patients with prostate cancer.
Br J Cancer 1997;
75:634-8. [PMID:
9043017 PMCID:
PMC2063325 DOI:
10.1038/bjc.1997.114]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Thirty-five patients with prostate cancer were examined for micrometastases to the bone marrow using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with primers specific for the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) gene. Of nine patients with bone metastases detectable by bone scan imaging, five patients had PSA mRNA expression in the bone marrow detectable by RT-PCR. Of 26 patients with negative bone scan findings, seven patients had PSA mRNA expression detectable in the bone marrow. RT-PCR could detect micrometastatic prostate cancer cells in the bone marrow that were not detectable by bone scan imaging. Of 16 patients with a serum PSA concentration of 25 ng ml(-1) or greater, only nine (56.3%) had bone metastases detected by bone scans. Of the remaining seven patients, five had micrometastases to the bone marrow detected by RT-PCR. Overall, 14 of 16 patients (87.5%) with a serum PSA concentration of 25 ng ml(-1) or greater had metastatic bone diseases including bone marrow micrometastases. Of 19 patients with a serum PSA concentration of less than 25 ng ml(-1), two (10.5%) had only micrometastatic disease detected by RT-PCR. A significant correlation was observed between the incidence of bone involvement and the serum PSA concentration. This study suggests that RT-PCR will potentially develop into a relevant tool to assess bone involvement including bone marrow micrometastases and establish a precise correlation between serum PSA concentration and metastatic bone disease in patients with prostate cancer.
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