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Does presence of prostate cancer affect serum testosterone levels in clinically localized prostate cancer patients?

Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases volume 12, pages 78–82 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

The relationships between serum level of testosterone (T) and prostate cancer (PCa) are complex. The present study evaluated whether presence of PCa alters serum T levels. Subjects were 125 patients with clinically localized PCa treated using radical prostatectomy (RP), for whom pretreatment T levels were recorded. We investigated clinical and pathological factors such as pretreatment serum T level, age, pretreatment prostate-specific antigen, Gleason score and pathological stage. Serum T and human luteinizing hormone (LH) levels before and after RP were then compared in 118 of the 125 patients. Mean pretreatment T level was significantly higher in patients with organ-confined PCa (pT2; 4.03±1.50 ng ml−1) than in patients with nonorgan-confined cancer (pT3; 3.42±1.06 ng ml−1; P=0.0438). No association existed between pretreatment serum T level and pathological Gleason score. After RP, serum T level (5.60±1.90 ng ml−1) was significantly elevated compared to preoperative level (3.89±1.43 ng ml−1; P<0.0001). In parallel, significant increases were seen in postoperative serum LH level (6.86±3.64 ng ml−1) compared to preoperative level (5.11±2.47 ng ml−1; P=0.0001). In contrast, differences in serum T levels according to pathological stage disappeared postoperatively (P=0.5513). Significant increases in serum T and LH levels were seen after RP, compared to preoperative levels in parallel. This study suggests that serum T levels are altered by the presence of PCa, supporting the possibility that PCa may inhibit serum T levels with negative feedback in the hypothalamic–pituitary axis.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Grants-in-Aid from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (Contract grant numbers: 14207061, 17791066, 19591834 and 19791101), the Japanese Foundation for Prostate Research (2004), the Japanese Urological Association (2006) and the Yamaguchi Endocrine Research Association.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Urology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan

    T Imamoto, H Suzuki, M Yano, K Kawamura, N Kamiya, K Araki, A Komiya, Y Naya & T Ichikawa

  2. Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Mie University, Mie, Japan

    T Shiraishi

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  1. T Imamoto
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  3. M Yano
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Correspondence to T Imamoto.

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Compared with preoperative levels, serum testosterone and human luteinizing hormone levels were significantly elevated in parallel after radical prostatectomy, supporting the possibility that prostate cancer may inhibit serum testosterone levels by negative feedback of the hypothalamic–pituitary axis.

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Imamoto, T., Suzuki, H., Yano, M. et al. Does presence of prostate cancer affect serum testosterone levels in clinically localized prostate cancer patients?. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis 12, 78–82 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/pcan.2008.35

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