Predictive efficacy of serum hepcidin,ferritin,and q-Dioxn MRI for upgrading,upstaging,and biochemical recurrence in prostate cancer patients:A comparative study

TIAN Zhen; LI Guang-zheng; HUANG Ren-peng; WANG Si-yu; JIN Li-chen; LIN Yu-xin; HUANG Yu-hua

doi:10.13263/j.cnki.nja.2025.09.004

Abstract：Objective:The aim of this study is to explore the correlation among serum hepcidin,ferritin,and q-Dioxn MRI with upgrading,upstaging and biochemical recurrence in prostate cancer(PCa)patients.Methods:A total of 103 PCa patients di-agnosed by biopsy were selected for this study.All patients underwent q-Dixon MRI prior to biopsy for T2*value measurement.Then serum hepcidin and ferritin were measured before receiving radical prostatectomy.Pathological grading and staging were conducted both preoperatively and postoperatively.The correlations among hepcidin,ferritin,T2*values,and postoperative upgrading,upstaging,biochemical recurrence were subsequently analyzed.Results:The hepcidin level of PCa patients was measured at(123.51±23.03)ng/mL,while the ferritin level was recorded at(239.80±79.59)ng/mL,and the T2* value was(41.07±6.37)ms.A total of 49 and 36 cases were observed with upgrading and upstaging in postoperative pathology,respectively.The median follow-up duration was 28.0 months(6.0-38.0 months),during which biochemical recurrence was observed in 12 cases.For upgrading,hep-cidin and ferritin demonstrated the predictive efficacy,with areas under the ROC curve of 0.777 and 0.642,respectively,whereas T2*values did not show sufficient predictive power.For upstaging,hepcidin,ferritin,and T2*exhibited predictive efficacy,with areas under the ROC curve of 0.806,0.696,and 0.655,respectively.Multivariate Logistic regression analysis indicated that hepcidin served as an independent risk factor for both upgrading(OR 1.055,95％CI 1.027-1.085,P＜0.001)and upstaging(OR 1.094,95％CI 1.040-1.152,P＜0.001).Cox regression analysis showed that hepcidin(95％CI 1.000-1.052,P=0.049)was a sig-nificant risk factor for predicting biochemical recurrence.Conclusion:Hepcidin could serve as a predictor for pathological upgra-ding,upstaging and biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy,which provides a novel potential index for risk stratification and prognostic evaluation of PCa patients.