Evaluation of an Epigenetic Assay for Predicting Repeat Prostate Biopsy Outcome in African American Men.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate an epigenetic assay performed on tissue from negative prostate biopsies in a group of African American (AA) men undergoing repeat biopsy, and to compare accuracy for predicting repeat biopsy outcome to prior studies conducted in predominantly Caucasian populations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study population consisted of 211 AA men from 7 urology centers across the United States; all of whom were undergoing 12-core transrectal ultrasound-guided repeat biopsy within 30 months from a negative index biopsy. All biopsy cores from the negative index biopsy were profiled for the epigenetic biomarkers GSTP1, APC, and RASSF1 using ConfirmMDx for Prostate Cancer (MDxHealth, Irvine, CA). RESULTS: Upon repeat biopsy, 130 of 211 subjects (62%) had no prostate cancer (PCa) detected and 81 of 211 (38%) were diagnosed with PCa. Of the subjects with PCa, 54 (67%) were diagnosed with Gleason score (GS) ≤6 PCa and 27 (33%) with GS ≥7 disease. For detection of PCa at repeat biopsy, ConfirmMDx sensitivity was 74.1% and specificity was 60.0%, equivalent to prior studies (P = .235 and .697, respectively). For detection of GS ≥7 PCa, sensitivity was 78% and specificity was 53%. The negative predictive values for detection of all PCa and GS ≥7 PCa were 78.8% and 94.2%, respectively. CONCLUSION: In this group of AA men, we successfully validated an epigenetic assay to assess the need for repeat biopsy. Results were consistent with previous studies from predominantly Caucasian populations. Therefore, the ConfirmMDx assay is a useful tool for risk stratification of AA men who had an initial negative biopsy.

Large bowel obstruction resulting from bladder transitional cell carcinoma metastasis: a common cancer presenting in an uncommon manner.

Transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) and large bowel obstructions are both common disease processes typically considered unrelated. Presented below is the case of a 49-year-old male with a large bowel obstruction caused by a bladder TCC metastasis. One year prior to large bowel obstruction presentation, the patient had a T2, Grade III TCC of the bladder with no nodal involvement or metastasis, which was removed via radical cystoprostatectomy. This case serves as a reminder that cancer, despite common pathogenesis patterns, can present in atypical ways.