Objective: Levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) have been associated with prostate carcinoma. We have investigated whether IGF-1 level has an early predictive value for the biochemical relapse in the prostate carcinoma patients with a negative surgical margin who underwent curative surgery.
Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 82 patients who were followed-up regularly and did not receive neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy. We classified patients as having Gleason scores ≥7 and <7, PSA values ≥10 ng/ml and <10, biochemical relapse positive or negative, T stages ≥T2 and
Results: During 60-month follow-up, 66 (80.4%) patients had no relapse, while in 8 (9.8%) patients had early, and other 8 (9.8%) patients had a late biochemical relapse. There was no statistically significant difference between these 3 groups of patients according to their age, tPSA levels, and BMI parameters. We compared IGF-1 levels with tumor burden, tPSA levels, tumor grade, and Gleason scores without any significant difference between these parameters. When we accepted IGF-1 cut-off values as 60 ng/ml, we observed higher Gleason scores (≥ 7 and more) in these patients. There was a weak relationship between IGF-1 levels of non-relapse and early relapse patients (p:0.078). However, when we evaluated IGF-1 levels among patients with relapse, the early relapse group had significantly higher IGF-1 levels (p: 0.006). When the cut-off value of IGF-1 was accepted as 60 ng/ml, which was found to be significant for Gleason score, the early relapse group had significantly higher IGF-1 levels compared to the non-relapse group (p:0.023).
Conclusions: According to our study, the IGF-1 level has a predictive value for showing biochemical recurrence after surgery. Nevertheless, considering the number of patients, we need randomized controlled trials with a large number of patients.
