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Axel Semjonow

Publications and source records attributed to Axel Semjonow.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Asynchronous growth of prostate cancer is reflected by circulating tumor cells delivered from distinct, even small foci, harboring loss of heterozygosity of the PTEN gene.

The clinical value of prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-positive circulating tumor cells (CTCs) is still a matter of debate and it is also still unclear if these CTCs actually represent the primary tumor. Therefore, we isolated PSA-positive CTCs from the peripheral blood of patients suffering from multifocal cancers and did genetic profiling of each cancer focus by a multiplex PCR-based microsatellite analysis (D7S522, D8S522, NEFL, D10S541, D13S153, D16S400, D16S402, D16S422, and D17S855). In 17 of 20 prostate cancer cases, the loss of heterozygosity (LOH) pattern of the CTCs was identical with only one focus of the primary tumor. Moreover, in six cases, the LOH pattern suggested that smaller foci, down to 0.2 cm3, might deliver CTCs. Interestingly, the highest number of LOHs was observed at the marker D10S541 (85%), the PTEN gene, which was observed much less frequently in unifocal prostate cancer (48%). Furthermore, the infrequently occurring LOH in the BRCA1 gene (38%) was found in four of the five cases where a biochemical recurrence was seen within 3 years after prostatectomy. Therefore, the data might support the assumption that CTCs in prostate cancer are derived from distinct foci of a primary tumor. The size of the tumor focus is not related to the delivery of cells. Although the number of cases that were investigated in this study was small, it might be suggested that the LOH at distinct markers such as D10S541 and D17S855 represent the genes PTEN and BRCA1, which might be associated with the occurrence of CTCs in the peripheral blood of patients as well as an early biochemical recurrence.

Humans↗

Biological variation of total prostate-specific antigen: a survey of published estimates and consequences for clinical practice.

BACKGROUND: The objectives of this study were to determine whether a single result for total prostate-specific antigen (tPSA) can be used confidently to guide the need for prostate biopsy and by how much serial tPSA measurements must differ to be significant. tPSA measurements include both analytical and biological components of variation. The European Group on Tumor Markers conducted a literature survey to determine both the magnitude and impact of biological variation on single, the mean of replicate, and serial tPSA measurements. METHODS: The survey yielded 27 studies addressing the topic, and estimates for the biological variation of tPSA could be derived from 12 of these studies. RESULTS: The mean biological variation was 20% in the concentration range 0.1-20 microg/L for men over 50 years. The biological variation means that the one-sided 95% confidence interval (CI) of the dispersion for a single tPSA result is approximately 33%. Three replicate samples with one analysis on each narrow the one-sided 95% CI for the mean concentration to approximately 20% and facilitate decisions on prostate biopsy. During monitoring of serial measurements, the change needed for significance is approximately 50% (P <0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The biological variation of tPSA has implications for screening, diagnosis, and monitoring. Single measurements may not be sufficiently precise for screening and diagnosis. Replicate samples and calculation of the mean concentration may improve precision by reducing the dispersion. Monitoring of tPSA requires an estimate of either the change needed for significance or, alternatively, of the significance of the change.

Circadian Rhythm↗

Expression of the endothelin axis in bladder cancer: relationship to clinicopathologic parameters and long-term survival.

OBJECTIVES: Endothelin-1 (ET-1) and its receptors ET(A)R and ET(B)R, referred to as the Endothelin-axis, play an emerging role in cancer. We examined the ET-axis immunohistochemically in invasive bladder cancer. METHODS: Tumor specimens from 157 patients after cystectomy were stained immunohistochemically for ET-1, ET(A)R and ET(B)R. After semiquantitative analysis the staining results were correlated with clinicopathological parameters and survival rates. RESULTS: Overexpression of ET-1, ET(A)R and ET(B)R was identified in 26.8%, 58.8% and 76.9% of cases, respectively. No association with TNM staging and histologic grading was found. However, patients with ET(B)R expression tended to have organ-confined tumors (p=0.16) and no vascular invasion (p=0.09), the latter being statistically significant in the subgroup of G3 tumors (p=0.02). ET(B)R overexpression was associated with favorable disease-free survival (p=0.04). CONCLUSIONS: The ET-axis is overexpressed in bladder cancer, ET(B)R predominating in this entity and being associated with a more favorable prognosis. Further studies are warranted to elucidate the role of the ET-axis as a molecular target in bladder cancer.

Adult↗

Pilot study of capillary electrophoresis coupled to mass spectrometry as a tool to define potential prostate cancer biomarkers in urine.

We describe the use of capillary electrophoresis (CE) coupled with mass spectrometry (MS) to identify single polypeptides and patterns of polypeptides specific for prostate cancer (CaP) in human urine. Using improved sample preparation methods that enable enhanced comparability between different samples, we examined samples from 47 patients who underwent prostate biopsy. Of this group, 21 patients had benign pathology and 26 with CaP, and these were used to define potential biomarkers, which allow discrimination between these two states. In addition, CE-MS data from these 47 urine samples were compared to that of 41 young men (control) without known or suspected clinical CaP to further confirm the polypeptides indicative for CaP. Upon crossvalidation of the same samples, several polypeptides were selected that enabled correct classification of the CaP patients with 92% sensitivity and 96% specificity. We then examined an additional 474 samples from patients with renal disease enrolled in other studies and found that 14 (3%) had polypeptides suggestive of CaP possibly indicating that they harbor clinical CaP. In conclusion, this early pilot study suggests that CE-MS of urine warrants further investigation as a tool that can identify putative biomarkers for CaP.

Aged↗

A multicenter clinical trial on the use of (-5, -7) pro prostate specific antigen.

PURPOSE: The determination of pro prostate specific antigen (proPSA) forms has been suggested to be promising in prostate cancer diagnosis. In this multicenter trial we evaluated the diagnostic usefulness of (-5, -7) proPSA. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 2,055 white men, including 1,046 with and 1,009 without prostate cancer, with total PSA (tPSA) between 0.28 and 81 ng/ml were retrospectively analyzed. Of these men 2,026 and 1,727 had tPSA less than 20 and less than 10 ng/ml, respectively. All subjects were untreated for prostatic disease and underwent multisector needle biopsy of the prostate. An Elecsys 2010 analyzer was used to determine tPSA, free PSA (fPSA) and (-5, -7) proPSA in the 2,055 serum samples. ROC analyses were performed to discriminate men with biopsy positive and negative results in the entire and in select tPSA ranges. RESULTS: In the select tPSA range 2 to 4 ng/ml the area under the ROC curve for proPSA (0.53) and proPSA/fPSA (0.59) was not significantly larger than that for tPSA (0.60) or the fPSA/tPSA (f/tPSA) ratio (0.64). In the tPSA range 4 to 10 ng/ml the area under the curve for the ratio proPSA/fPSA (0.67) was larger than for tPSA (0.53) but not larger than for f/tPSA (0.69). The f/tPSA ratio demonstrated the best discriminatory power in this tPSA range of 4 to 10 ng/ml. CONCLUSIONS: In this multicenter study no improvement in diagnostic accuracy was shown when comparing (-5, -7) proPSA and the corresponding ratios with tPSA or f/tPSA. Further studies using other proPSA forms or tumor associated proteins should be done.

Adult↗

Discordance analysis characteristics as a new method to compare the diagnostic accuracy of tests: example of complexed versus total prostate-specific antigen.

BACKGROUND: ROC curve analysis is used to compare the overall diagnostic accuracy of tests, but its application to subgroups selected by a concentration range of only one marker may show severe biases. We developed a new approach, which we have named discordance analysis characteristics (DAC). METHODS: The DAC method is based on a generalization of the McNemar test so that for a given pair of cutoff values only those patients are analyzed who are categorized differently by the two tests compared. The analyses are performed for all cutoff pairs that deliver identical sensitivities for both tests. We used data for total (tPSA) and complexed prostate-specific antigen (cPSA) from a recently published multicenter study to demonstrate the DAC method. RESULTS: The example shows that ROC analyses of subgroups can give contradictory results about the diagnostic accuracy of two markers, depending on the marker used for the selection of subgroups. The DAC method avoids artifacts attributable to questionable selection of subgroups and facilitates overall and local comparisons of the diagnostic accuracy of tests. The DAC results of the analyzed data set suggest that cPSA has higher diagnostic accuracy than does tPSA. CONCLUSIONS: The DAC method is a suitable tool for comparing the clinical usefulness of laboratory markers. The DAC method could be considered as an additional tool to ROC analysis and could replace comparative ROC analyses of diagnostic tests, especially within subgroups defined by only one of the markers.

Humans↗

Cytogenetic changes and loss of heterozygosity in atypical adenomatous hyperplasia, in carcinoma of the prostate and in non-neoplastic prostate tissue using comparative genomic hybridization and multiplex-PCR.

High grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) and atypical adenomatous hyperplasia (AAH) are discussed to be precursors of prostate cancer (PC). Unlike high grade PIN the relation between AAH and PC is however unclear. In the present study we analyzed AAH, accompanying prostate carcinomas and carcinomas of the transitional zone after microdissection using comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) and multipelx-PCR with 10 microsatellite polymorphic markers. In every case non-neoplastic prostatic tissue was investigated for the same allelic imbalances. Two AAH showed allelic imbalances in multiplex-PCR. These imbalances did not correlate with the corresponding tumours and furthermore were different to the LOH found in the investigated prostate tumours of the transitional zone. One AAH showed loss on chromosome 22q. We found allelic imbalances in over 50% of non-neoplastic tissue adjacent to prostatic carcinoma. Our findings support the idea that AAH does not seem to be linked closely to PC and should not be considered as an obligate premalignant lesion.

Aged↗

Comparison of 10 serum bone turnover markers in prostate carcinoma patients with bone metastatic spread: diagnostic and prognostic implications.

Our aim was to assess the diagnostic accuracy of bone markers in serum of patients with prostate cancer (PCa) for early detection of bone metastases and their usefulness as predictors of PCa-caused mortality. In sera of 117 PCa patients (pN0M0, n = 39; pN1M0, n = 34; M1, n = 44), 35 healthy men and 35 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia, bone formation markers [total and bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (tALP, bALP), amino-terminal procollagen propeptides of type I collagen (P1NP), osteocalcin (OC)], bone resorption markers [bone sialoprotein (BSP), cross-linked C-terminal (CTX) and cross-linked N-terminal (NTX) telopeptides of type I collagen, tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase isoenzyme 5b (TRAP)] and osteoclastogenesis markers [osteoprotegerin (OPG), receptor activator of nuclear factor kappaB ligand (RANKL)] were measured. tALP, bALP, BSP, P1NP, TRAP, NTX and OPG were significantly increased in PCa patients with bone metastases compared to patients without metastases. OPG showed the best discriminatory power to differentiate between these patients. Logistic regression analysis resulted in a model with OPG and TRAP as variables that predicted bone metastasis with an overall correct classification of 93%. Patients with concentrations of OPG, P1NP, tALP, bALP, BSP, NTX, TRAP and CTX above cut-off levels showed significantly shorter survival than patients with low marker concentrations. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression revealed that only OPG and BSP were independent prognostic factors for PCa-related death. Thus, the importance of serum OPG in detecting bone metastatic spread, alone or in combination with other bone markers, and predicting survival in PCa patients has been clearly demonstrated.

Adult↗

Expression-patterns of the RNA component (hTR)and the catalytic subunit (hTERT) of human telomerase in nonneoplastic prostate tissue, prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia, and prostate cancer.

BACKGROUND: Telomerase, a ribonucleoprotein, is composed of a RNA component (hTR) and two protein subunits. One of these subunits, the catalytic subunit (human telomerase reverse transcriptase, hTERT), represents a reverse transcriptase. hTERT-expression is closely correlated with telomerase activity. The telomerase is thought to be involved in immortalization process. By adding hexamic repeats to the end of chromosomal DNA, the telomeres, the enzyme is able to stop progresssive telomeric DNA loss that occurs during cell division due to the end replication problem that stops the mitotic clock. METHODS: Expression-patterns of hTR using radioactive in situ hybridization with (35)S-labelled RNA probes were compared with immunhistochemical staining for hTERT in 14 cases of archival paraffin-embedded samples of normal prostatic tissue, high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN), prostatic cancer, and one atypical adenomatous hyperplasia (AAH). Beside the expression-patterns each telomerase component was evaluated semiquantitatively. RESULTS: hTERT and hTR can be found in nonneoplstic tissue and are upregulated in premalignant transformated lesions. AAH showed no hTERT-expression and low hTR-expression. There is a heterogenous expression within prostatic carcinomas. CONCLUSIONS: No association was observed between the grade of the tumour differentiation and semiquantitative levels of hTR- or hTERT-expression. Telomerase is of limited value for the diagnostic of malignant or benign lesions in prostate.

Carcinoma↗

Problems with prostate-specific antigen screening: a critical review.

The effect of population screening with regard to reduction of prostate cancer specific mortality and quality of life issues is not yet clear. Several national and international prospective studies are currently being conducted to answer these important questions. They include the trials in the Federal State of Tyrol, Austria and in the Quebec City area, Canada, as well as the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) trial in the United States and the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC). In the meantime, individual case finding (opportunistic screening) is recommended for men with a life-expectancy of at least 10 years.

Humans↗

Bicycle riding has no important impact on total and free prostate-specific antigen serum levels in older men.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether bicycle riding significantly alters total prostate-specific antigen (tPSA), free PSA (fPSA), and percent free PSA (%fPSA) serum concentrations in potential candidates for prostate cancer screening. METHODS: Thirty-three men, ranging in age from 50 to 74 years (mean 61 +/- 8), rode a 13-mile bicycle course. Blood samples for PSA analysis were drawn immediately before and 1 hour after cycling for 90 minutes. The precycling and postcycling tPSA, fPSA, and %fPSA values were compared using the Wilcoxon matched-pairs test, with P = 0.01 set as the significance level. RESULTS: Changes between precycling and postcycling values for tPSA (P = 0.517), fPSA (P = 0.048), and %fPSA (P = 0.166) were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Physical activity combined with perineal pressure as induced by a 13-mile bicycle tour has no diagnostic impact on PSA values.

Aged↗

Semi-quantitative immunochromatographic test for prostate specific antigen in whole blood: tossing the coin to predict prostate cancer?

OBJECTIVES: A strip test for the semi-quantitative determination of prostate specific antigen (PSA) based on whole blood was evaluated by the Working Group on Laboratory Diagnostics of the German Urological Association. METHODS: In 301 men (156 volunteers and 145 referred patients, mean ages 57 years and 64 years) handling and capability of the strip test to predict PSA serum concentrations (Access Hybritech, Beckman Coulter, Inc., Fullerton, CA, USA) relative to a cutoff of 4 micro g/l were investigated. For patients, the strip test was performed by investigators, volunteers accomplished it according to leaflet instructions. Each test result was interpreted by both, the patient/volunteer and an investigator. RESULTS: 24% of the volunteers required assistance with test performance. The overall agreement between Access PSA (range 0.1-29.7) and strip test was 76% (read by participants) and 79% (read by investigators). Within the PSA ranges 0.1-3, 3.1-5 and 5.1-10, participants yielded agreement rates of 89%, 40% and 56%, respectively. Studying the 2.1-10 PSA range most relevant for prostate cancer screening, agreement rate (53%), sensitivity (50%) and specificity (67%) were barely superior to random chance. Volunteers alone (PSA range 0.1-11.3 micro g/l) yielded a specificity of 92%, however, all PSA values above the cutoff (n=8) went unrecognized and all positive strip tests (n=12) were incorrect (sensitivity 0%, positive predictive value 0%). CONCLUSIONS: Test handling and interpretation was difficult. The rate of false strip test results is disappointing even for PSA ranges remote from the cutoff. In its present form the strip test fails to meet the clinical requirements and its launch to the market was therefore discontinued.

Diagnostic Errors↗

A multicenter clinical trial on the use of complexed prostate specific antigen in low prostate specific antigen concentrations.

PURPOSE: The determination of complexed prostate specific antigen (cPSA) has been suggested to be promising for prostate cancer (PCa) diagnosis. In a multicenter trial we evaluate the diagnostic use of PSA forms in the low total PSA (tPSA) range. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 283 white men with and 417 without PCa and tPSA concentrations between 0 and 6 ng/ml were retrospectively analyzed. All 700 untreated subjects underwent a multisector needle biopsy of the prostate. The Elecsys analyser 1010 (Roche Diagnostics, Mannheim, Germany) was used for determination of tPSA and free PSA. Determination of cPSA and tPSA was performed using immunoassays of the Bayer Immuno 1 system (Bayer Diagnostics, Tarrytown, New York). RESULTS: Receiver operating characteristics analyses for discrimination between cases with and without PCa were performed. The areas under the curves (AUC) for cPSA, tPSA and free-to-total PSA (f/tPSA) showed no significant differences in the tPSA ranges of 0 to 6 (700 cases), 0 to 4 (510) and 0.5 to 2.5 ng/ml (253). Within the tPSA range of 2.5 to 4 ng/ml (230 cases) the AUC for cPSA (0.61) was significantly larger than that for tPSA (Roche 0.51, Bayer 0.54) but did not differ from the AUC of f/tPSA (Roche). On the basis of the cutoffs for 95% specificity or sensitivity, no significant increase in corresponding sensitivity or specificity was found between tPSA with cPSA. CONCLUSIONS: In the tPSA range of less than 4 ng/ml no improvement in diagnostic accuracy was shown between cPSA with tPSA or the ratio of f/tPSA. The search for a useful marker in the low PSA range must continue.

Aged↗

Serum osteoprotegerin and receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa B ligand as indicators of disturbed osteoclastogenesis in patients with prostate cancer.

PURPOSE: We evaluated the behavior and diagnostic usefulness of the osteoclastogenesis proteins osteoprotegerin and receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappaB ligand (RANKL) in the serum of patients with prostate cancer (PCa). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Serum osteoprotegerin and RANKL were retrospectively measured in 117 patients with prostate cancer, including 39 with stage pN0M0, 34 with stage pN1M0 and 44 with bone metastases, in 35 presumably healthy men and in 35 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The association of these components with clinical data (tumor stage and grade) and receiver operating characteristics curves compared with the bone formation marker alkaline phosphatase and bone resorption marker crosslaps (cross-linked C-terminal telopeptides of type I collagen) were calculated. RESULTS: Osteoprotegerin was increased in patients with bone metastases, while those with localized cancer or lymph node metastases had values similar to those in presumably healthy controls and patients with BPH. RANKL did not differ among the control, BPH and PCa subgroups. Thus, the ratio of osteoprotegerin-to-RANKL showed behavior similar to that of osteoprotegerin. Osteoprotegerin and RANKL did not show any significant correlation with tumor stage, histological tumor grade, total prostate specific antigen, alkaline phosphatase activity or crosslaps. ROC analysis data proved that osteoprotegerin had a better diagnostic accuracy than alkaline phosphatase or crosslaps for detecting bone metastases in PCa cases. CONCLUSIONS: Serum osteoprotegerin but not RANKL indicates disturbed osteoclastogenesis in patients with PCa and bone metastatic spread. It could be used as a marker for bone metastases.

Adult↗

Accurate control of the superficial and deep dorsal veins during radical retropubic prostatectomy: the Münster clamp technique.

OBJECTIVE: To better control the superficial and deep dorsal veins during radical retropubic prostatectomy and, thus, to reduce blood loss. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A surgical technique is described which introduces a modified Babcock clamp to fully encompass all tissue above the prostatic capsule. In a prospective protocol, 30 consecutive patients (median age 64.5, range 57-76 years) were randomly assigned to either the standard technique or the Münster clamp method. Blood loss was estimated for the entire phase from teasing away the periprostatic fat until the apex had been mobilized. RESULTS: Median hemorrhage was 950 (range 300-2,100) ml for the standard technique and 800 (range 200-1,750) ml for the clamp procedure (Wilcoxon rank sum test, p = 0.17). CONCLUSIONS: The Münster clamp technique can reduce hemorrhage during radical retropubic prostatectomy. This method is easy to apply and is also suitable for cystoprostatectomy.

Hemostasis, Surgical↗

Determination of non-alpha1-antichymotrypsin-complexed prostate-specific antigen as an indirect measurement of free prostate-specific antigen: analytical performance and diagnostic accuracy.

BACKGROUND: A new assay measures prostate-specific antigen (PSA) not complexed to alpha(1)-antichymotrypsin (nACT-PSA) after removing PSA complexed to ACT by use of anti-ACT antibodies. We evaluated nACT-PSA and its ratio to total PSA (tPSA) as alternatives to free PSA (fPSA) and its ratio to tPSA in differentiating prostate cancer (PCa) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in patients with tPSA of 2-20 micro g/L. METHODS: PSA in serum of 183 untreated patients with PCa and 132 patients with BPH was measured retrospectively on the chemiluminescence immunoassay analyzer LIAISON(R) (Byk-Sangtec Diagnostica) with the LIAISON tPSA and LIAISON fPSA assays. The nACT-PSA fraction was determined with a prototype assay measuring the residual PSA after precipitation of ACT-PSA with an ACT-precipitating reagent. RESULTS: nACT-PSA was higher than fPSA in samples with fPSA concentrations <1 microg/L but lower in samples with >1 microg/L fPSA. The median ratios of fPSA/tPSA and of nACT-PSA/tPSA were significantly different between patients with BPH and PCa (19.4% vs 12.2% and 17.4% vs 13.0%, respectively). Within the tPSA ranges tested (2-20, 2-10, and 4-10 microg/L), areas under the ROC curves for the fPSA/tPSA ratios were significantly larger than those for nACT-PSA/tPSA. In the tPSA ranges <10 microg/L, the areas under the ROC curves for fPSA/tPSA were significantly larger than those for tPSA, whereas the areas for nACT-PSA/tPSA were not. At decision limits for 95% sensitivity and specificity, both ratios significantly increased specificity and sensitivity, respectively, compared with tPSA, but the fPSA/tPSA ratio showed higher values. CONCLUSIONS: nACT-PSA and its ratio to tPSA provide lower diagnostic sensitivity and specificity than fPSA/tPSA. The fPSA/tPSA ratio represents the state-of-the-art method for differentiating between PCa and BPH.

Aged↗

A new modification of the Chiron ACS assay for total prostate-specific antigen achieves equimolar response characteristics and improves the detection of prostate cancer.

Nonequimolar-response assays for prostate-specific antigen (PSA) are criticized for overestimating total PSA in some men without prostate cancer (PCA), and underestimating total PSA in some men with PCA. We recently studied three nonequimolar-response PSA assays that had undergone modifications. While two of the studied assays achieved equimolar-response characteristics with improved areas under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves (AUC), the modification of the Chiron ACS PSA assay (ACS PSA2, Chiron) failed to achieve this. Recently, the ACS assay underwent another modification (ACS PSA, Bayer), which we investigated. Sera from 305 men (155 without and 150 with PCA, PSA > or = 2 and < or = 30 microg/l, Tandem-E) were measured using both modifications of the ACS assay and equimolar-response reference methods (Tandem-R free and Tandem-E, Hybritech). Molar response relative to the reference method and clinical performance (comparison of AUCs) between the previous and new ACS assay modifications were studied. The new modification of the ACS assay (ACS PSA, Bayer) achieved equimolar-response characteristics but reported lower values (average 10%) than the Tandem-E assay. Compared to the previous modification (ACS PSA2, Chiron), a 3% improvement in AUC (p = 0.01) was found. Using results of the redesigned equimolar-response assay (ACS PSA, Bayer), we calculated that 6 of 155 men without PCA in this sample set could be spared unnecessary biopsy compared with the previous nonequimolar-response assay (ACS PSA2, Chiron) without missing additional PCA (90% sensitivity). These data provide additional evidence for clinical advantages of equimolar-response over nonequimolar-response PSA assay formats.

Case-Control Studies↗