Prostatic chondroitin sulfate is increased in patients with metastatic disease but does not predict survival outcome

Previous studies from our laboratory demonstrated a strong association between an elevated level of chondroitin sulfate (CS) in peritumoral stroma and PSA-relapse in patients with early stage disease. In this study we determined whether CS levels could predict overall survival in men diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer subsequently treated by orchiectomy alone.

CS was localized in archived prostatic tissues by immunohistochemistry, and the level of CS expression as measured by video image analysis was compared in cohorts of 157 and 60 men with early stage or advanced disease, respectively.

The CS levels in the peritumoral stroma of patients without relapse after treatment for early stage disease was significantly reduced compared to levels in prostate tissue from patients who either relapsed (P = 0.003) or were diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer (P < 0.00001). There was no difference between the median CS level in the peritumoral prostatic stroma of early stage patients that relapsed after treatment and patients diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. Increased CS levels (P < 0.0001) and high Gleason score (P < 0.0001) were associated with an increased rate of PSA-relapse in the cohort of patients with early stage disease. However, neither CS level nor Gleason score alone or in combination could predict survival outcome in patients with advanced prostate cancer following androgen deprivation therapy.

Although peritumoral CS levels and Gleason score are strong predictors of relapse-free survival in early stage prostate cancer patients, neither peritumoral CS levels nor Gleason score can predict survival outcome in patients with advanced disease.