Protein C Inhibitor as a Diagnostic Marker: Immunohistochemical Expression in Prostatic Adenocarcinoma and Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

Abstract

Background: This study explores the immunohistochemical expression of protein C inhibitor (PCI) in patients with prostatic adenocarcinoma (PCa) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Methods and Results: Our study involved 56 prostate samples morphologically diagnosed as PCa and 30 BPH samples. An immunohistochemical analysis of the PCI expression was performed. Our analysis encompassed variables including age, serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA), local and distant metastasis, PCI staining, and morphological features such as Gleason Score and Grade Group. In addition to descriptive statistics, Spearman's rank correlation test was performed. All patients with BPH had no staining or low staining for PCI. 60% of PCa patients had moderate or strong staining intensity for PCI. There was no correlation between PCI expression and clinicopathological parameters, including PCI expression and PSA, Gleason Score, and Grade Group. A negative correlation was observed between age at diagnosis and PCI expression. Conclusion: Our study did not find a statistically significant correlation between PCI and PCa. However, we report that in 60% of our PCa cases, there is a moderate and high-intensity expression for PCI.

Keywords

• prostate
• cancer
• biomarkers
• protein c inhibitor