Validation of the partin nomogram for prostate cancer in a national sample

The Partin tables are a nomogram that is widely used to discriminate prostate cancer pathological stages, given common preoperative clinical characteristics. The nomogram is based on patients undergoing radical prostatectomy at The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. We validated the Partin tables in a large, population based sample.

The National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database was used to identify patients treated from 2004 to 2005 who underwent radical prostatectomy. The 2007 Partin tables were used to estimate the prevalence of positive lymph nodes, seminal vesicle invasion, extraprostatic extension and organ confined disease in men with prostate cancer in the database using clinical stage, preoperative prostate specific antigen and Gleason score. The discriminative ability of the tables was explored by constructing ROC curves.

We identified 11,185 men who underwent radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer in 2004 to 2005. The Partin tables discriminated well between patient groups at risk for positive lymph nodes and seminal vesicle invasion (AUC 0.77 and 0.74, respectively). The discrimination of extraprostatic extension and organ confined disease was more limited (AUC 0.62 and 0.68, respectively). The AUC for positive lymph nodes was 0.78 in white men, 0.73 in black men and 0.83 in Asian/Pacific Islander men (p = 0.17). The AUC for positive lymph nodes in men 61 years old or younger was 0.80 vs 0.74 in men older than 61 years (p = 0.03).

The Partin tables showed excellent discrimination for seminal vesicle invasion and positive lymph nodes. Discrimination of extraprostatic extension and organ confined disease was more limited. The Partin tables performed best in young men.