Age and Gleason's Score in Prostate Cancer among Southern Nigerians: Is there Any Correlation?

Background: Prostate cancer (PCa) incidence and mortality are associated with age and African descent. African men are more likely to have aggressive disease, present late with complications and die from prostate cancer. Age is also an independent factor for consideration in the management of patients with PCa. The Gleason score is used both for risk classification, treatment stratification and prognostic purposes.
Objective: To determine the presence of a correlation between age and Gleason score in patients with histologically confirmed prostate cancer.
Materials and methods: This retrospective study was carried out on patients with histologically confirmed prostate cancer from August 2012 to July 2021. Their case records were retrieved, and the patient's age and Gleason grade were collated. Data collected were then analyzed using SPSS version 20. The data were collated using Microsoft excel 2016.
Results: There were 352 patients with histologically confirmed prostate cancer with a mean age of 68.88years±9.75, ranging from 48years to 117years. The modal age range was the 60-69year group. The commonest PCa grade is Gleason 8/Grade group 4 {27.8% (98)}, followed by Gleason 9/Grade group 5 {19.9% (70)} as shown in Fig. 2. The Gleason score was associated with age as indicated in Table 2 (p=0.001). However, Pearson's correlation coefficient did not establish a statistically significant relationship (r=0.045; p=0.401). The high-risk Gleason's 8-10, Grade group 4 and 5, was the most frequent among all the age groups. The low Gleason score cancers were commonest in the 40-49year age group.
Conclusion: There was an association between age and Gleason's score, even though it was not statistically significant. Gleason 8-10 /Grade groups 4 and 5 PCa was associated with older patients. It was also commonest among patients 80years and above.