CORRELATION OF SERUM ZINC WITH GLEASON SCORE AS A MARKER FOR PROSTATE CANCER AGGRESSIVENESS IN JOS.

BACKGROUND: Zinc inhibits energy production, growth, and proliferation in normal prostate cells while suppressing the malignant potential and angiogenesis that are essential to prostate cancer aggressiveness. The study aimed to determine the correlation of serum zinc with Gleason score as a marker for prostate cancer aggressiveness METHODOLOGY: We conducted a hospital-based cross-sectional analytical study carried out on forty-two (42) eligible participants with newly diagnosed histologically confirmed prostate adenocarcinoma over one year. Spearman's rank correlation was used to assess the relationship between serum zinc and prostate cancer aggressiveness as measured by the Gleason score. The impact of serum zinc level on the aggressiveness of severe prostate cancer was assessed using a binary regression model, adjusting for age as a confounder in the logistic regression model. A statistically significant P value was set at 0.05. RESULTS: The mean age of participants was 67.12 years, with a range of 45- 90 years. High-grade disease (Gleason 8) was the most common, representing 57.1% of patients. The median serum zinc concentration was 71.5 microgram/dL (IQ: 47.6 to 88.5 microgram/dL). Serum zinc and Gleason score showed a statistically significant inverse correlation (Spearman r = -0.514, p < 0.001). Reduced zinc levels were significantly associated with higher Gleason scores (MannWhitney; 140.0, p = 0.002). Low serum zinc independently predicted high-grade disease after adjusting for age. CONCLUSION: This study found a statistically significant inverse correlation between serum zinc concentrations and Gleason score in men with prostate cancer. This finding indicates that reduced serum zinc levels are associated with higher Gleason scores