Comparative Assessment of Serum Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) and Inosine Monophosphate Dehydrogenase-2 (IMPDH-2) as Predictors of Aggressive Prostate Cancer

Background: This study was aimed at comparing serum Prostate Specific Antigen and Inosine Monophosphate Dehydrogenase-2 in predicting aggressive prostate cancer by determining their correlations with Gleason score and International Society of Urologic Pathologists grade groups. Methods: This was a hospital-based quantitative descriptive cross-sectional study. Sixty-three prostate adenocarcinoma patients were recruited and their serum was assayed for IMPDH-2 and PSA. Correlations of serum IMPDH-2 and PSA with Gleason score and ISUP Grade Groups were determined using Spearman’s rho and Kendall tau correlation coefficients, respectively. The correlation (r) was graded as very weak when r (< 0.3), weak (0.3 – 0.4), moderate (0.5 – 0.6), or strong (≥ 0.7). The magnitude of the correlation was assessed by calculating the coefficient of determination for the respective analysis (R2). Levels of statistical significance were set as p < 0.05. Results: The mean age was 68.6 years. The mean serum IMPDH-2 and PSA were 76.2pg/ml and 65.9ng/ml respectively. Serum IMPDH-2 did not correlate with Gleason score (r = 0.08, p = 0.55) or ISUP Grade groups (τ = 0.03, p = 0.79). Serum PSA correlated weakly with Gleason score (r = 0.30, p = 0.02) and very weakly with ISUP Grade groups (τ = 0.21, p = 0.04). The magnitude of correlation was 0.101. PSA did not significantly outperform IMPDH-2 in predicting the Gleason score (p = 0.53). Conclusion: Neither serum IMPDH-2 nor PSA have sufficient accuracy in predicting Gleason score and ISUP Grade groups. None is a good predictor of aggressive prostate cancer.