Hepatocyte Growth Factor as a Tumor Marker in the Serum of Patients with Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is a leading cause of death among men worldwide; it is invasive and metastasizes to different organs. Metastatic spread of this type of cancer is the greatest barrier to achieve cure. The present study is carried out to study the serum levels of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) in patients with prostate cancer in relation to stage and grade and to evaluate its diagnostic and prognostic clinical validity as a tumor marker. Patients and Methods: The study included 47 patients with prostate cancer and 15 apparently healthy men as a control group. The patients were divided into two groups, including 27 patients with localized prostate cancer (group I) and 20 patients with metastatic prostate cancer (group II). Detection of serum levels of HGF and prostate specific antigen (PSA) was carried out by an enzyme immunoassay. The serum levels of HGF and PSA were significantly increased in groups I and II as compared to the control group and were highest in group II. The best cut-off value for HGF was 663.8 pg/ml with 83% and 93.3% sensitivity and specificity, and was 4.4 ng/ml for PSA with a sensitivity and specificity of 85.1% and 100%; respectively; with positive and negative predictive values of 97.5%,63.6% and 100%,68.2%; respectively. Combining PSA and HGF was more accurate in distinguishing between patients with metastatic disease and those with localized disease than either marker alone with a sensitivity of 98.1 % (ρ<0.05). HGF is elevated in the serum of patients with carcinoma of the prostate and this elevation is related to the stage of malignancy and is independent of age. These results imply that HGF may be an important serum marker for prostate cancer