Abstract
Background: Prostate cancer (PCa) represents the second most commonly diagnosed malignancy and the sixth leading cause for cancer related death among men worldwide. Although use of the prostate specific antigen (PSA) as a diagnostic marker has improved the detection and management of PCa, low specificity and sensitivity has limited its clinical efficacy. Moreover, elevated PSA is frequently observed in benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH). Mean platelet volume (MPV) and platelet distribution width (PDW) are commonly used indicators of platelet activation. The purpose of current study was to investigate the ability of PSA, MPV, and PDW individually or in combination, to differentiate PCa from BPH. Materials and Methods: This study included 100 patients with PCa and 108 patients with BPH. We collected all participants’ clinical and laboratory characteristics. The benefit of adding MPV and PDW to a model with only PSA was evaluated as an increased in the area under the curve (AUC) obtained by receiver operating curve (ROC). Results: PCa patients had reduced MPV and elevated PSA and PDW levels compared to BPH patients. Single biomarkers had AUC values ranging from 0.683 for PDW to 0.865 for PSA. Moreover, the combination of PSA, MPV, and PDW increased the AUC to 0.935 (0.892-0.964) (p<0.0001), significantly higher than those of any single marker. Conclusions: The combined use of PSA, MPV, and PDW may be clinically useful in distinguishing between PCa and BPH.