Abstract

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• INTRODUCTION:

  To compare the pretreatment characteristics of prostate cancer, prostate-specific antigen (PSA), digital rectal examination (DRE) and Gleason sum score (GSS) by the American Urological Association (AUA) stratified age groups, < 55, 55-69 and >= 70 years old.

  MATERIALS AND METHODS:

  A retrospective analysis of 402 sequential prostate cancer patients, who had transrectal ultrasound guided 12 core prostate biopsy for either elevated PSA (over 2.5 ng/mL) or positive DRE or both during a three period, 2010 to 2012. There were 36 patients < 55 years, 226 patients 55 to 69 years and 140 patients >= 70 years (range 44-78 years old). This study was conceptualized after the AUA released prostate cancer screening guidelines in which men >= 70 were deleted from screening.

  RESULTS:

  Overall, compared with patients < 70 years old, we found that in patients >= 70 years old: 1) 60.7% had high GSS (7-10) (p = 0.0234); 2) 39.3% had low GSS (6) (p = 0.0234); 3) 31% had PSA level >= 10 ng/mL (p = 0.0010) and 4) 69.1% had high GSS (7-10) in the presence of a positive DRE (p = 0.0278).

  CONCLUSION:

  Patients >= 70 years old had a higher incidence of high GSS (7-10) compared to prostate cancer patients < 70 years old. Patients >= 70 years old who also had a positive DRE had the highest incidence of high GSS.