Molecular Subgroup of Primary Prostate Cancer Presenting with Metastatic Biology

BACKGROUND: Approximately 4-25% of patients with early prostate cancer develop disease recurrence following radical prostatectomy. OBJECTIVE: To identify a molecular subgroup of prostate cancers with metastatic potential at presentation resulting in a high risk of recurrence following radical prostatectomy. DESIGN, SETTING & PARTICIPANTS: Unsupervised hierarchical clustering was performed using gene expression data from 70 primary resections, 31 metastatic lymph nodes and 25 normal prostate samples. Independent assay validation was performed using 322 radical prostatectomy samples from four sites with a mean follow-up of 50.3 months. OUTCOME MEASURES & STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Molecular subgroups were identified using unsupervised hierarchical clustering. A partial least squares approach was used to generate a gene expression assay. Relationships with outcome (time to biochemical and metastatic recurrence) were analyzed using multivariable Cox regression and log-rank analysis. RESULTS & LIMITATIONS: A molecular subgroup of primary prostate cancer with biology similar to metastatic disease was identified. A 70-transcript signature (Metastatic Assay) was developed and independently validated in the radical prostatectomy samples. Metastatic Assay positive patients had increased risk of biochemical recurrence (Multivariable HR 1.62 [1.13-2.33]; p= 0.0092) and metastatic recurrence (Multivariable HR=3.20 (1.76-5.80); p=0.0001). A combined model with CAPRA-S identified patients at increased risk of biochemical and metastatic recurrence superior to either model alone (HR=2.67 [1.90-3.75]; p<0.0001 and HR=7.53 [4.13-13.73]; p