Prostatic specific antigen (PSA) circulates mostly in complex with protease inhibitors, but 10-30% circulates as inactive free-PSA (FPSA). In patients with prostate cancer (PCa), pretreatment FPSA is lower and used to risk-stratify patients for biopsy. However, posttreatment FPSA ratio (FPSAR) is rarely quantified, with an unexplored clinical value.
Methods The institutional database was queried to identify patients following radical prostatectomy (RP cohort) or radiotherapy (RT cohort) between 2000 and 2017. For validation, the investigators identified an independent prospective cohort with biochemical recurrence (BCR) after RP, using biobank samples (biobank cohort). All patients had at least one posttreatment FPSAR test. Kaplan-Meier (KM) method was used to compare the metastasis-free (MFS), castration-resistant PCa (CRPC)-free, and cancer-specific-survival (CSS) rates. Multivariable Cox models determined the association between posttreatment FPSAR, metastases, and CRPC.
