Low serum testosterone is associated with tumor aggressiveness and poor prognosis in prostate cancer

Serum testosterone is a potential marker to distinguish between indolent and aggressive prostate cancer (PCa). The present study aimed to investigate whether low levels of total serum testosterone at diagnosis were associated with aggressive PCa and poor clinical outcomes. In total, 762 non-Hispanic Caucasian men with previously untreated PCa were recruited from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (Houston, TX, USA). Patients were categorized into three groups based on their total serum testosterone levels according to clinical guidelines [low (<230 ng/dl), intermediate (230-350 ng/dl) and normal (>350 ng/dl)]. PCa aggressiveness (low-, intermediate- or high-risk, or metastatic) was compared using multinomial logistic regression. Rates of disease progression, mortality from any cause and PCa-specific mortality were compared using the multivariate Cox proportional hazards model. Testosterone levels significantly decreased as PCa aggressiveness increased (P<0.001). Compared with the normal testosterone group, the low testosterone group had 2.9-fold (OR, 2.92; 95% CI, 1.74-4.90; P<0.001), 5.6-fold (OR, 5.63; 95% CI, 3.14-10.12; P<0.001) and 72.4-fold (OR, 72.40; 95% CI, 20.89-250.89; P<0.001) increased risks of having intermediate-risk, high-risk and metastatic PCa, respectively. Furthermore, low levels of testosterone were significantly associated with a 10.7-fold (HR, 10.68; 95% CI, 1.35-84.44; P=0.03) increased risk of PCa-specific mortality. The results of the present study indicate that low levels of total serum testosterone at diagnosis are associated with aggressive PCa and predict poor PCa-specific survival.