Comparison of the ESR and CRP levels and their relationship with PSA in benign prostate hyperplasia and prostate adenocarcinoma patients: A retrospective analytical study

Prostate cancer is the most common malignancy (excluding skin malignancies) in men. Chronic inflammation has been shown to be associated with cancer. Although this association has not been proven for prostate cancer, evidence shows that inflammation has a possible role in prostate cancer. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) are the two key indices in assessing inflammation. It was therefore decided to investigate ESR and CRP in patients with prostate cancer and assess their relationship with PSA level at initial diagnosis. In this retrospective-analytical study, hospital records of all patients referred to Mortaz and Shahid Rahnemoon general hospitals during 2013-2018 and undergoing prostatectomy with pathology reports of benign prostatic hyperplasia or prostate adenocarcinoma were extracted by census method. The required variables including patient’s age, PSA, ESR and CRP levels were extracted from hospital records. Extracted data were analyzed by ANOVA and Chi-square tests in SPSS software version 18. P-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. According to the results, patients' mean age was 70.71±10.19 years, mean ESR 38.86±31.28, and mean CRP 1.28±1.01. There was a significant difference between the two groups in mean values of ESR and CRP (P<0.05). The results also showed meaningful correlations between age and PSA, ESR and PSA, CRP and PSA, and CRP and ESR in patients with prostate cancer (P<0.05). As inflammatory factors, ESR and CRP increase in patients with prostate cancer, they can be used in the initial diagnosis of prostate cancer as an adjunct diagnostic assay and prognostic factor (only ESR) in conjunction with PSA .