Abstract:

Aim: We aimed to investigate thiol/disulphide homeostasis as an additional serum marker to prostate specific antigen (PSA) in the diagnosis of prostate cancer.  Patients and Methods: Prospective study was conducted among 174 patients with PSA levels of 2.5–20 ng/mL without suspicion of malignancy in rectal examination and who underwent prostate needle biopsy. A total of 75 patients were included in our study after exclusion criteria. Serum PSA, thiol, and disulphide levels of the patients were recorded prior to biopsy. In this study, 25 patients with pathology results indicating prostate cancer, 25 randomly selected patients with pathology results indicating chronic prostatitis, and 25 randomly selected patients with pathology results indicating benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) were included.  Results: Total and native thiol levels were higher in prostate cancer group than in BPH and chronic prostatitis groups; however, no statistically significant difference was observed (p> 0.05). When prostate cancer sub-groups were investigated, total and native thiol levels were noted to be higher in patients with a Gleason score of 7, 8, and 9 than in those with a Gleason score of 6; however, no statistically significant difference was observed (p> 0.05).  Conclusions: Thiol levels were higher in prostate cancer group than in benign disease (BPH and chronic prostatitis) groups; these levels were also higher in group with high Gleason scores (Gleason 7, 8, or 9) than in group with a low Gleason score (Gleason 6); however, these differences were not statistically significant. 

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