Objective       To study the expression and clinical value of serum procollagen type Ⅰ (PCⅠ) in the early diagnosis of bone metastases in prostate cancer patients.        Methods       Serum PCⅠ

procollagen typeⅠamino terminal peptide (PⅠNP) and procollagen type Ⅰcarboxyl terminal peptide (PⅠCP) in 262 samples (50 healthy subjects

62 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia

67 patients with prostate cancer

and 83 prostate cancer patients with bone metastases) were detected by radioimmunoassay kits (PCⅠ kits were prepared in our laboratory

and PⅠNP and PⅠCP kits were purchased from Orion Diagnostics)

and statistical analysis was performed.        Results       The PCⅠ

PⅠNP and PⅠCP levels in the prostate cancer bone metastases group were significantly higher than those in the other groups (P0.001). The PCⅠ and PⅠNP levels in the prostate cancer group were significantly higher than those in the normal control group and the benign prostatic hyperplasia group (P0.05)

but the PⅠCP level had no significant difference among the groups (P0.05). The PCⅠ

PⅠNP and PⅠCP levels had no significant difference between the benign prostatic hyperplasia group and the normal control group (P0.05). The elevated percentages of PCⅠ

PⅠNP and PⅠCP levels in the prostate cancer bone metastases group were significantly higher than those in the benign prostatic hyperplasia group and the prostate cancer group (P0.01). The sensitivity of PCⅠ

PⅠNP and PⅠCP levels in diagnosis of prostate cancer bone metastases was 90.4%

88.0%

and 84.3%

respectively

the specificity was 94.4%

96.1%

and 95.5%

respectively

and the Youden indexes were 84.8%

84.0%

and 79.9%

respectively. The diagnostic accuracy was above 92%. There were no significant difterences in the sensitivity and specificity among PCⅠ

PⅠNP and PⅠCP (P0.05).        Conclusion       The PCⅠ kits prepared in our laboratory can replace imported PⅠNP and PⅠCP kits to detect the PCⅠ levels

and PCⅠ may be a significant marker in the early diagnosis and monitoring of bone metastases in prostate cancer patients.