Sclerostin serum levels in prostate cancer patients and their relationship with sex steroids

Summary The role of sclerostin on bone metabolism and its relation to sex steroids in patients with prostate cancer (PC) is not well known. We found that sclerostin levels are significantly increased in PC patients, particularly in those with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), and there is an inverse relationship between sclerostin levels and testosterone. Introduction Recent studies have evaluated sclerostin levels in bone diseases as osteoporosis. However, there are few data in PC patients, particularly in patients with hypogonadism related to ADT. The aim of the present study was to compare serum sclerostin levels in ADT/non-ADT-treated PC patients and healthy controls and to evaluate their relationship with sex steroids and bone metabolism. Methods We performed a cross-sectional study involving 81 subjects: 25 ADT-treated PC patients, 34 PC patients without ADT treatment, and 22 healthy controls. We measured serum sclerostin levels, bone turnover markers, bone mineral density (BMD) in all individuals, and sex steroids levels in PC patients. Results Serum sclerostin levels were significantly higher in PC patients compared to those in control subjects. ADT-treated patients had significantly higher sclerostin levels than PC patients without ADT treatment: ADT 64.52 ± 27.21 pmol/L, non-ADT 48.24 ± 15.93 pmol/L, healthy controls 38.48 ± 9.19 pmol/L, p