Gleason score stratification according to age at diagnosis in 1028 men

Gleason score stratification according to age at diagnosis has been retrospectively evaluated in 1028 men with biopsy-proven prostate cancer (PCa).

From January 2006 to December 2014, 2435 Caucasian men aged between 37 and 92 years underwent transperineal prostate biopsy for suspicion of PCa. The indications were as follows: abnormal digital rectal examination (DRE), PSA values > 10 ng/ml or between 4.1-10 or 2.6-4 ng/ml, with free/total PSA < 25% and < 20%, respectively.

In 1028 (42.2%) patients with median PSA of 9.6 ng/ml a PCa was found (median age 62.3 years; range: 42-92 years); 757 (73.7%) vs. 271 (26.3%) men had a T1c vs. T2 clinical stage, respectively. Median Gleason score was 7 (range: 6-10). The Gleason score progressively increased with the age of the patients at diagnosis, and a significantly correlation between Gleason score ≥ 8 and men older than 80 years was demonstrated (p = 0.0001).

The detection rate of aggressiveness of PCa progressively increased with the age at diagnosis; Gleason score ≥ 8 was more frequently diagnosed in men older than 80 years with PSA values > 10 ng/ml (about 80% of the cases) and abnormal DRE (about 60% of the cases).