Effect of COVID-19 mRNA vaccination on prostate specific antigen levels in prostate cancer patients

Objective: The effect of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines on prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels in prostate cancer patients remains unclear. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effects of COVID-19 mRNA vaccination on PSA levels in patients with prostate cancer. Method: Retrospective data were collected from patients diagnosed with prostate cancer (ICD-10 code C61). Inclusion criteria encompassed patients with pre-vaccination PSA levels of ≤2 ng/mL, no metastases, no active urinary tract infection and no history of urinary catheterization. Results: Of the 333 patients initially screened, 176 were excluded due to missing data. Sixty-eight patients with PSA level > 2 ng/mL and 10 patients who developed urinary tract infection during follow-up were also excluded. The study included 89 patients (mean age: 70.77±5.88 years). Fifteen of these patients were between the ages of 55-65 years and the remaining 64 patients were between the ages of 65-83 years. There was no significant difference in PSA measurements between the first, second, and third doses of COVID-19 mRNA vaccine. Conclusion: Invaluable information about the effect of COVID-19 mRNA vaccination on PSA levels in prostate cancer patients was provided. The findings suggest that COVID-19 mRNA vaccination has no significant effect on PSA levels in prostate cancer patients admitted to our urology and oncology clinics. However, further studies with larger sample size and longer follow-up period are needed to confirm these findings and better understand the relationship between COVID-19 vaccination and PSA levels in prostate cancer patients.