Prognostic factors for overall survival in prostate cancer patients with different site-specific visceral metastases: A study of 1358 patients

Abstract

BACKGROUND

Distant metastasis, particularly visceral metastasis (VM), represents an important negative prognostic factor for prostate cancer (PCa) patients. However, due to the lower rate of occurrence of VM, studies on these patients are relatively rare. Consequently, studies focusing on prognostic factors associated with PCa patients with VM are highly desirable.

AIM

To investigate the prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) in PCa patients with lung, brain, and liver metastases, respectively, and evaluate the impact of site-specific and number-specific VM on OS.

METHODS

Data on PCa patients with VM were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database between 2010 and 2015. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were used to analyze the association between clinicopathological characteristics and survival of patients with different site-specific VM. Kaplan-Meier analyses and Log-rank tests were performed to analyze the differences among the groups.

RESULTS

A total of 1358 PCa patients with site-specific VM were identified from 2010 to 2015. Older age (> 70 years) ( P < 0.001), higher stage (T3/T4) ( P = 0.004), and higher Gleason score (> 8) ( P < 0.001) were found to be significant independent prognostic factors associated with poor OS in PCa patients with lung metastases. Higher stage (T3/T4) ( P = 0.047) was noted to be the only independent risk factor affecting OS in PCa patients with brain metastases. Older age (> 70 years) ( P = 0.010) and higher Gleason score (> 8) ( P = 0.001) were associated with shorter OS in PCa patients with liver metastases. PCa patients with isolated lung metastases exhibited significantly better survival outcomes compared with PCa patients with other single sites of VM ( P < 0.001). PCa patients with a single site of VM exhibited a superior OS compared with PCa patients with multiple sites of VM ( P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

This is the first Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-based study to determine prognostic factors affecting OS in PCa patients with different site-specific VM. Clinical assessments of these crucial prognostic factors become necessary before establishing a treatment strategy for these patients with metastatic PCa.