Abstract:Objective To investigate the diagnostic value of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) combined with serum Periostin and stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) for prostate cancer (PCa).Methods A total of 144 patients with suspected PCa admitted to the General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University from February 2019 to February 2021 were selected. The diagnosis of all patients was confirmed by surgery and pathology, including 76 patients with PCa as the PCa group and 68 patients with benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) as the BPH group. The serum levels of Periostin and SDF-1 were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The diagnostic value of serum levels of Periostin and SDF-1 for PCa was analyzed via receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Kappa test was applied to analyze the consistency of MRI, serum levels of Periostin and SDF-1 alone and their combination with pathological findings in the diagnosis of PCa.Results The time-intensity curve was different between the PCa group and the BPH group (χ2 = 36.465, P < 0.05). Compared with the BPH group, the time to peak (Tmax) was lower, and maximum slope of increase (MSI) and signal enhancement rate (SER) were higher in the PCa group (P < 0.05). The serum levels of SDF-1 and Periostin in the PCa group were higher than those in the BPH group (P < 0.05). The ROC curve analysis showed that the optimal cut-off value of the serum level of SDF-1 was 5.91 pg/mL for diagnosing PCa, with the area under the ROC curve (AUC) being 0.783 (95% CI: 0.731, 0.873), the sensitivity being 59.21% (95% CI: 0.473, 0.704) and the specificity being 91.18% (95% CI: 0.818, 0.967), respectively. The optimal cut-off value of the serum level of Periostin was 37.38 ng/mL, with the AUC being 0.802 (95% CI: 0.692, 0.844), the sensitivity being 64.47% (95% CI: 0.527, 0.751) and the specificity being 86.76% (95% CI: 0.764, 0.938), respectively. The analysis on the agreement of MRI and serum levels of SDF-1 and Periostin with the gold standard in diagnosing PCa exhibited significant differences (P < 0.05), demonstrating that the diagnostic results of these indicators were in good agreement with the results of the gold standard surgical pathology. The analysis on the agreement of MRI combined with serum levels of SDF-1 and Periostin with the gold standard also exhibited significant differences (P < 0.05), demonstrating that the diagnostic results of the combined detection were in good agreement with the results of the gold standard surgical pathology as well. The accuracy, sensitivity, and negative predictive value of MRI combined with serum levels of SDF-1 and Periostin for diagnosing PCa were the highest, with them being 90.28%, 94.73 (95% CI: 0.856, 0.984) and 93.55%, respectively. The specificity of SDF-1 alone for diagnosing PCa was the highest, with it being 91.18% (95% CI: 0.818, 0.967). Besides, the positive predictive values of MRI and SDF-1 alone for diagnosing PCa were the highest, with them both being 88.24%.Conclusions MRI combined with serum SDF-1 and Periostin is of value for the accurate diagnosis of PCa in clinical practice, and can be used to identify PCa and to prevent overdiagnosis, thus providing a reference for the accurate diagnosis of prostate diseases.