Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are not associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer in men 50-69 years with PSA ≥3 ng/ml

Abstract

Background: There is conflicting evidence about the association between prostate cancer and Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (LUTS). We aimed to describe the prevalence of LUTS and its association with prostate cancer risk.Methods: We studied the association between International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) and prostate cancer in a population-based sample of men (n = 45,595) aged 50-69 years from the Stockholm3 study. Men with PSA ≥3 ng/ml (n = 4579) underwent systematic prostate biopsies. We used the International Society of Urological Pathology Gleason Grading (ISUP grade) and performed regression analysis for risk of any cancer (n = 1797), ISUP grade ≥2 (n = 840) and advanced cancer, defined as ISUP grade ≥3 or cT ≥3 (n = 353).Results: 74.6% of all men had no or mild LUTS (IPSS ≤7) and 3.2% had severe LUTS (IPSS >19). Men with any, ISUP grade ≥2 or advanced cancer had lower median IPSS compared to men with benign biopsy (any cancer: 4 (IQR 2-9); ISUP grade ≥2: 4 (2-8); advanced cancer: 4 (2-8); benign biopsy: 6 (3-11); p < 0.05). IPSS was not associated with increased risk of cancer in multivariate analyses (OR (any cancer) 0.97; 95% CI 0.96-0.98; OR (ISUP grade ≥2) 0.97; 95% CI 0.96-0.99; OR (advanced cancer) 0.99; 95% CI 0.99-1.01).Conclusions: Three-quarters of men aged 50-69 years report no or mild LUTS. Our data do not support any clinically meaningful association between LUTS and prostate cancer. Specifically, men with advanced prostate cancer did not exhibit more urinary symptoms than men without cancer.

Keywords: Lower urinary tract symptoms; PSA screening; population-based study; prostate cancer.