Serum Levels of Lipocalin-2 and Prostate Specific Antigen in Patients with Prostate Cancer; A Comparative Study

Prostatic cancer is a common disease, increasing dramatically with age. Over one million men are biopsied annually in the United States, making this a major public health problem. Approximately one in nine men with prostate cancer the median age at diagnosis is 66 years, and the median age at death is 80 years. Lipocalin 2 has been identified as an adipokine. It is expressed in liver, lung, kidney, macrophages and epithelial cells. Lipocalin 2 function involves in a variety of physiological activities, which is an important factor in innate immune responses. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is the most reliable tumor marker available and is widely used for the diagnosis and management of prostate cancer, and it is another commonly test used to screening for prostate carcinoma.

This is a cross sectional, hospital based study, this study was carried out from Jan 2019 to July 2019. Forty-eight men with prostatic cancer were screened to participate in the present study. Men ages were between 50–88 years old, and they were from center and the periphery of Kirkuk city. Forty-two apparently health men without prostatic cancer and with negative family history for the first and the second degree relative of prostatic cancer were considered as a control groups, their ages were from 50 to 80 years. A serum level of Lipocalin 2 was measured by ELIZA and prostate specific antigen by VIDAS.

The mean serum level of lipocalin 2 was significantly elevated in prostate cancer men compared to control men (37.03 ± 3.71 vs. 18.19 ± 2.94 ng/dl) respectively at a P 0.05. This study showed that there is the significant difference between the patients and the control group concerning PSA level, which was higher in sera of the patients (23.53 ± 8.34 vs. 2.47 ± 1.40).

Both of lipocalin 2 and PSA were higher in the sera of the patients with prostatic cancer, and were positively correlated with each other.