Journal Article

Urinary PGE-M in Men with Prostate Cancer

Tang, Wei, Minas, Tsion Z., Ambs, Stefan, Milne, Ginger L., Baker, Francine, Dorsey, Tiffany H., Smith, Cheryl J., Yates, Clayton, Cook, Michael B., Loffredo, Christopher A., Kiely, Maeve

2021

Overview

Urinary PGE-M is a stable metabolite of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2). PGE2 is a product of the inflammatory COX signaling pathway and has been associated with cancer incidence and metastasis. Its synthesis can be inhibited by aspirin. We investigated the association of PGE-M with lethal prostate cancer in a case–control study of African American (AA) and European American men. We measured urinary PGE-M using mass-spectrometry. Samples were obtained from 977 cases and 1022 controls at the time of recruitment. We applied multivariable logistic and Cox regression modeling to examine associations of PGE-M with prostate cancer and participant survival. Median survival follow-up was 8.4 years, with 246 deaths among cases. Self-reported aspirin use over the past 5 years was assessed with a questionnaire. Race/ethnicity was self-reported. Urinary PGE-M levels did not differ between men with prostate cancer and population-based controls. We observed no association between PGE-M and aggressive disease nor prostate-cancer-specific survival. However, we observed a statistically significant association between higher (>median) PGE-M and all-cause mortality in AA cases who did not regularly use aspirin (HR = 2.04, 95% CI 1.23–3.37). Among cases who reported using aspirin, there was no association. Our study does not support a meaningful association between urinary PGE-M and prostate cancer. Moreover, PGE-M levels were not associated with aggressive prostate cancer. However, the observed association between elevated PGE-M and all-cause mortality in AA non-aspirin users reinforces the potential benefit of aspirin to reduce mortality among AA men with prostate cancer.

• Publisher: MDPI AG,MDPI
• Subject: Aspirin / Breast cancer / Colorectal cancer / Confidence intervals / Ethnicity / Inflammation / Laboratories / Metastases / Metastasis / Minority & ethnic groups / Mortality / Population studies / Prostaglandin E / Prostaglandin E2 / Prostate cancer / Questionnaires / Risk factors / Signal transduction / Statistical analysis / Survival / Survival analysis