Thiosulfate in urine as a facilitator in the diagnosis of prostate cancer for patients with prostate-specific antigen less or equal 10 ng/mL

Grażyna Chwatko; Ewa Forma; Jacek Wilkosz; Rafał Głowacki; Paweł Jóźwiak; Waldemar Różański; Magdalena Bryś; Anna Krześlak

doi:10.1515/cclm-2013-0069

Article

Thiosulfate in urine as a facilitator in the diagnosis of prostate cancer for patients with prostate-specific antigen less or equal 10 ng/mL

Grażyna Chwatko , Ewa Forma , Jacek Wilkosz , Rafał Głowacki , Paweł Jóźwiak , Waldemar Różański , Magdalena Bryś and Anna Krześlak

Published/Copyright: July 6, 2013

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From the journal Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine Volume 51 Issue 9

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to examine the level of thiosulfate in the urine of prostate cancer (PCa) patients and evaluate its usefulness in the diagnosis and monitoring of prostate malignant transformation. Thiosulfate is a naturally occurring product of hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) metabolism. H₂S is involved in many physiological and pathological processes including inflammation and tumorigenesis.

Methods: The determination of thiosulfate in the urine of PCa patients and healthy controls was performed by reverse-phased liquid chromatography using 2-chloro-1-methylquinolinium tetrafluoroborate as a derivatization reagent. Thiosulfate concentrations were normalized to urinary creatinine levels to compensate for variable diuresis.

Results: In the urine samples of PCa patients, the mean thiosulfate level was almost 50 times higher than in the control groups and five times higher than in the benign prostatic hyperplasia group. The level of thiosulfate did not correlate with the serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level or PSA density. Neither tumor stage nor tumor grade was associated with thiosulfate level.

Conclusions: The results suggest that thiosulfate concentration in urine may be a good facilitator in the diagnostics of PCa. The predictive accuracy of this method is particularly valuable for the diagnosis of patients with low serum PSA level and negative digital rectal examination and transrectal ultrasound results.

Keywords: high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC); prostate cancer; prostate-specific antigen (PSA); thiosulfate

Corresponding author: Grażyna Chwatko, Department of Environmental Chemistry, University of Łódź, 163 Pomorska Łódź, 90-236 Łódź, Poland, Phone: +48-42-6355841, Fax: +48-42-6355832

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Received: 2013-1-25

Accepted: 2013-6-17

Published Online: 2013-07-06

Published in Print: 2013-09-01

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https://doi.org/10.1515/cclm-2013-0069

Keywords for this article

high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC); prostate cancer; prostate-specific antigen (PSA); thiosulfate