Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: We characterized tumor prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) levels as a reflection of cancer biology and treatment sensitivities for treatment-naïve prostate cancer. METHODS: We first correlated PSMA positron emission tomography (PET) maximum standardized uptake values (SUVmax) in primary prostate cancer with tumor FOLH1 (PSMA RNA abundance) to establish RNA as a proxy (n = 55). We then discovered and validated molecular pathways associated with PSMA RNA levels in two large primary tumor cohorts. We validated those associations in independent cohorts (18 total; 5684 tumor samples) to characterize the pathways and treatment responses associated with PSMA. KEY FINDINGS AND LIMITATIONS: PSMA RNA abundance correlates moderately with SUVmax (ρ = 0.41). In independent cohorts, androgen receptor signaling is more active in tumors with high PSMA. Accordingly, patients with high PSMA tumors experienced longer cancer-specific survival when managed with androgen deprivation therapy for biochemical recurrence (adjusted hazard ratio [AHR] 0.54 [0.34-0.87]; n = 174). PSMA low tumors possess molecular markers of resistance to radiotherapy. Consistent with this, patients with high PSMA tumors experience longer time to recurrence following primary radiotherapy (AHR 0.50 [0.28-0.90]; n = 248). In the SAKK09/10 trial (n = 224), patients with high PSMA tumors who were managed with salvage radiotherapy experienced longer time to progression in the 64-Gy arm (restricted mean survival time [RMST] +7.60 [0.05-15.16]), but this effect was mitigated in the 70-Gy arm (RMST 3.52 [-3.30 to 10.33]). Limitations include using PSMA RNA as a surrogate for PET SUVmax. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: PSMA levels in treatment-naïve prostate cancer differentiate tumor biology and treatment susceptibilities. These results warrant validation using PET metrics to substantiate management decisions based on imaging.