Prognostic significance of plasma chromogranin a levels in patients with hormone-refractory prostate cancer treated in Cancer and Leukemia Group B 9480 study.

Objectives: To test the hypothesis that chromogranin A (CgA) levels are prognostic in patients with metastatic hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRPC). The extent of neuroendocrine differentiation in prostate cancer correlates with aggressive disease and with progression to HRPC. Plasma CgA levels in patients with prostate cancer may reflect the extent of the tumor neuroendocrine phenotype.

Mutations in ribonuclease L gene do not occur at a greater frequency in patients with familial prostate cancer compared with patients with sporadic prostate cancer.

Several genetic loci are suspected to be involved in hereditary prostate cancer, including the hereditary prostate cancer 1 (HPC1) locus at chromosome 1q24-25. The ribonuclease L (RNase L) gene has been reported as the putative hereditary prostate cancer gene located at HPC1. If this is the case, mutations of RNase L should be found at a greater frequency in familial cancers than in sporadic prostate cancers.