Abstract / Description
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The interplay between prostate cancer and the tumor microenvironment is well documented and of primary importance in disease evolution. Herein, we investigated the prognostic value of tissue and urinary collagen-related molecular signatures in predicting biochemical recurrence (BCR) after radical prostatectomy (RP). METHODS: A comprehensive analysis of 55 collagen-related features was conducted using transcriptomic datasets (n = 1393), with further validation at the proteomic level (n = 69). Additionally, a distinct cohort (n = 73) underwent a urine-based peptidomic analysis, culminating in the validation of a urine-derived prognostic model. Independent prognostic significance was assessed using Cox proportional hazards modeling, while the model's predictive performance was benchmarked against established clinical metrics. KEY FINDINGS AND LIMITATIONS: An expression analysis of 55 collagen-related transcripts identified 11 transcripts significantly associated with BCR (C-index: 0.55-0.72, p CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Collagen-based molecular signatures in both tissue and urine emerge as robust prognostic biomarkers for predicting BCR following RP.