Stockholm3 study awarded best abstract in the prostate cancer biopsy indication session at the 2024 European Association of Urology meeting
April 22, 2024
The annual 2024 European Association of Urology (EAU) meeting was held in Paris from April 5 – 8. More sophisticated risk adapted prostate cancer strategies was a focus area, including six abstracts evaluating Stockholm3 in populations across Europe and North America. An abstract utilizing a baseline Stockholm3 score to predict biochemical recurrence after prostatectomy was awarded best abstract in the prostate cancer biopsy indication session.
The awarded abstract evaluated cancers missed when using PSA cutoffs of 3 ng/ml, compared to Stockholm3 of ≥11 (1). The cohort consisted of men who participated in the original STHLM3 trial and underwent radical prostatectomy with curative intent. The STHLM3 study was a paired design trial, where men with elevated PSA (≥3 ng/ml) and a Stockholm3 ≥11 underwent biopsy.
The follow-up study evaluated the 5-year biochemical recurrence for these men. The results showed that less than 1% (1/115) of the cancers missed by Stockholm3 had biochemical recurrence at a 5-year follow-up, compared to 11% (9/82) of the cancers missed by PSA ≥3. The cancers missed by PSA were identified by Stockholm3, followed by biopsy, and the diagnosed men underwent prostatectomy.
The results of this follow-up study suggest the following:
Stockholm3 identifies aggressive cancer that traditional, interval PSA screening misses and thus may better identify men within the window of cure.
Stockholm3 can predict men that may develop biochemical recurrence after prostatectomy.
Cancers missed by Stockholm3 behave less aggressively than cancers missed by PSA.
These results build off abstract results presented at EAU 2023, Micoli et al. (2), showing a trend toward reduced prostate cancer specific mortality from the same STHLM3 trial.
“Large screening trials have shown that PSA testing reduces prostate cancer specific mortality, but PSA testing alone doesn’t eliminate it. These results suggest that by using an adjunct Stockholm3 test at lower PSA thresholds, clinically relevant and potentially lethal cancers can be detected and cured. This data also suggests there is additional prognostic benefit of baseline Stockholm3 testing” says Dr. Hari Vigneswaran, Karolinska Institutet researcher, urologist and Director of Medical Affairs at A3P Biomedical.
Other Stockholm3 presentations at the EAU covered a wide range of topics, including:
Organized prostate testing and screening, multi-ethnic validation, clinical use in men ≥75 years, compliance of Stockholm3 vs. PSA, and cost-effectiveness in a diagnostic and treatment care pathway.
(1) Vigneswaran HT; Palsdottir T; Grönberg H; Nordström T; Egevad L; Eklund M. “Stockholm3 to predict post-operative risk and biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy: Evidence from the STHLM3 trial” EUROPEAN UROLOGY. 2024;85:s1674-s1675
(2) Micoli C; Crippa A; Discacciati A; Vigneswaran H; Palsdottir T; Clements M; Aly M; Adolfsson J; Fredrik W; Wiklund P; James T; Lindberg J; Gronberg H; Egevad L; Nordstrom T; Eklund M. “The Stockholm3 prostate cancer screening trial (STHLM3): An interim analysis of mortality results after 6.5 years of follow-up.” EUROPEAN UROLOGY. 2023;83:s1266-s1267
About A3P Biomedical
A3P Biomedical is a company that specializes in advanced prostate cancer diagnostics. A3P’s main product, Stockholm3, is a clinically and commercially validated blood test for early detection and risk stratification of aggressive prostate cancer. A3P Biomedical is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. For more information, please visit www.a3p.com
About Stockholm3
Stockholm3 is a blood-based test, that runs a combination of protein biomarkers, genetic biomarkers and clinical information through an algorithm to find the probability of clinically significant cancer at biopsy.
Stockholm3 has been evaluated in clinical studies including more than 90,000 men. It is extensively tested in large population-based screening trials, as well as in real world clinical utility studies in primary care, as a reflex test to PSA at values 1.5-20 ng/ml. Benefits include the ability to reduce unnecessary MRIs, benign and Grade Group 1 prostate biopsies for men with elevated PSA, while simultaneously improving detection of clinically significant cancers in men with low or normal PSA values. Using Stockholm3 leads to a more accurate risk assessment than the current PSA standard. Stockholm3 detects 40-90% more men with aggressive prostate cancer and, at the same time, reduces over-detection by 40-50% compared to PSA.
Multiple Stockholm3 studies have been published in high-impact journals such as The Lancet Oncology, Journal of Clinical Oncology, and European Urology. The studies address both the specificity and sensitivity of Stockholm3 in multi-ethnic populations as well as health-economic benefits of implementing it in clinical care. For more information about our clinical studies please visit www.a3p.com.
About prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. In 2020, the global incidence of new prostate cancer cases was 1.4 million, and prostate cancer specific mortality 370,000. Global prostate cancer incidence and mortality is expected to rise by 100% and 85% respectively by 2040, driven by an ageing population.
Press contact:
Cecilia Edström
cecilia.edstrom@a3p.com
+46 72 226 2328