Objective: The serum level of neuron specific enolase (NSE) is gaining acceptance as a marker of neuroendocrine tumors. To clarify the role of NSE in prostate cancer progression, we examined the relationship of NSE to clinicopathological parameters.
Methods: The pretreatment serum NSE level was measured in 104 patients with histologically confirmed prostatic adenocarcinoma (PCa) and 59 patients in whom prostate cancer was not detected (non-PCa). PCa patients consisted of 5 T1N0M0, 20 T2N0M0, 31 T3N0M0, 7 TxN1M0 and 41 TxNxM1 cases.
Results: Non-PCa patients had significantly higher serum NSE than PCa patients. Serum NSE in metastatic PCa patients was significantly higher than that in non-metastatic patients, while NSE did not significantly differ with regard to histological grade, or prostate specific antigen (PSA) response to endocrine therapy. In PCa patients, serum NSE was not correlated to serum PSA nor chromogranin A. In metastatic patients who underwent endocrine therapy, the higher NSE group had significantly poorer cause-specific survival.
Conclusion: The pretreatment serum level of NSE can predict survival of metastatic PCa patients treated with endocrine therapy.