The Use of Serum Zinc to Prostate-Specific Antigen Ratio As A Biomarker in the Prediction of Prostate Biopsy Outcomes

Abstract

Aim: To generate a combination of serum zinc (Zn) and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in an attempt to provide better prediction of prostate biopsy outcomes with Zn/PSA ratios. Materials & methods: Diagnostic performances of PSA and Zn/PSA were investigated using receiver operating characteristic and the area under the curve analysis and McNemar test in 480 men. Decision curve analysis was also used to determine the net clinical benefits of the two parameters. Results: The receiver operating characteristic-area under the curve analysis established a similar diagnostic performance for both parameters. Although Zn/PSA had a higher diagnostic sensitivity, PSA was superior in terms of specificity and net clinical benefits. Conclusion: Zn/PSA has no substantial superiority in the prediction of prostate biopsy outcomes.

Keywords:

• biomarkers
• prostate cancer
• prostate-specific antigen
• zinc

Supplemental Material

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Ethical conduct

The authors state that they have obtained appropriate institutional review board approval or have followed the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki for all human or animal experimental investigations. In addition, for investigations involving human subjects, informed consent has been obtained from the participants involved.

Data sharing statement

The authors certify that this manuscript reports original clinical trial data (Clinical Trial registration no.: NCT02013180). The data will not be made publicly available.