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Updated: Jul 27, 2026
Serum and Plasma Copy Number Detection Using Real-time PCR
Published on: December 15, 2017
Prognostic significance of reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction for prostate-specific antigen in men with
P W Kantoff1, S Halabi, D A Farmer
1Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology, Department of Adult Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA. philip_kantoff@dfci.harvard.edu
Purpose:
To evaluate the prognostic significance of reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) detection of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) mRNA in the blood of men with hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRPC).
Patients And Methods:
Peripheral blood was obtained from 193 men enrolled on Cancer and Leukemia Group B Study 9480, a prospective randomized comparison of three doses of suramin. RNA was isolated from the samples and assayed for the presence of PSA transcripts by RT-PCR.
Results:
RNA could be isolated in 156 (83%) of samples. PSA transcripts as measured by RT-PCR were detectable in 75 (48%) of the 156 patients. The median survival for those patients in whom no transcripts were detectable was 18 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 14 to 22 months) compared with 13 months (95% CI, 11 to 15 months) (P =.004) for those in whom transcripts were detectable. In a multivariate analysis in which other factors predictive of survival were used, RT-PCR for PSA provided independent prognostic information.
Conclusion:
RT-PCR for PSA predicts survival duration in a population of men with HRPC.
