The pattern of serum markers in patients with androgen-independent adenocarcinoma of the prostate

In this exploratory study, our objectives were to correlate the serum and bone marrow concentrations of putative markers of prostate cancer progression in patients with advanced androgen-independent prostate cancer (AIPC), to assess the frequency and quantity of relative expression of these markers, and to correlate the expression of the markers with extent of disease (EOD) and overall survival. In a cohort of 50 patients with AIPC with bone metastases, we obtained serum and bone marrow samples and measured prostate specific antigen (PSA), serum interleukin-6 (sIL-6), bone marrow interleukin-6, serum chromogranin A (sCgA), bone marrow chromogranin A, and prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) by immunoassays. EOD was determined by quantifying identifiable bone lesions on radionuclide bone scans. Each variable was categorized into two groups (low and high) based on the median found in this cohort or on the cutoff based on normal limits when available. Analyses were performed in two subsets of patients with EOD either