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. 1997;75(5):634–638. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1997.114

Detection of micrometastatic prostate cancer cells in the bone marrow of patients with prostate cancer.

T Deguchi 1, M Yang 1, H Ehara 1, S Ito 1, Y Nishino 1, Y Takahashi 1, Y Ito 1, K Shimokawa 1, T Tanaka 1, T Imaeda 1, T Doi 1, Y Kawada 1
PMCID: PMC2063325  PMID: 9043017

Abstract

Thirty-five patients with prostate cancer were examined for micrometastases to the bone marrow using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with primers specific for the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) gene. Of nine patients with bone metastases detectable by bone scan imaging, five patients had PSA mRNA expression in the bone marrow detectable by RT-PCR. Of 26 patients with negative bone scan findings, seven patients had PSA mRNA expression detectable in the bone marrow. RT-PCR could detect micrometastatic prostate cancer cells in the bone marrow that were not detectable by bone scan imaging. Of 16 patients with a serum PSA concentration of 25 ng ml(-1) or greater, only nine (56.3%) had bone metastases detected by bone scans. Of the remaining seven patients, five had micrometastases to the bone marrow detected by RT-PCR. Overall, 14 of 16 patients (87.5%) with a serum PSA concentration of 25 ng ml(-1) or greater had metastatic bone diseases including bone marrow micrometastases. Of 19 patients with a serum PSA concentration of less than 25 ng ml(-1), two (10.5%) had only micrometastatic disease detected by RT-PCR. A significant correlation was observed between the incidence of bone involvement and the serum PSA concentration. This study suggests that RT-PCR will potentially develop into a relevant tool to assess bone involvement including bone marrow micrometastases and establish a precise correlation between serum PSA concentration and metastatic bone disease in patients with prostate cancer.

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Selected References

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