Researchers Discover Traits of Aggressive Form of Prostate Cancer
June 11th, 2008 Posted in prostate cancer, prostate cancer diagnosisA research team at the Michigan Center for Translational Pathology at the University of Michigan Health System have identified traits of an aggressive type of prostate cancer that occurs in about 10 percent of men who have the disease. They hope the discovery could lead, possibly within the next few years, to a simple urine test that will help to diagnose this variation of prostate cancer.
Current tests for prostate cancer include prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood tests. Increased levels of PSA can indicate that prostate cancer is present. Another test is a digital rectal examination, which can detect abnormalities in the prostate. Another urine-based test screens for PCA3 as a specific biomarker of prostate cancer.
In their previous studies researchers have shown that most prostate cancer is partly caused by a gene fusion – the merging of two unrelated genes, which plays a role in at least 50 percent of prostate cancer cases.
They learned that a gene called SPINK1 (serine peptidase inhibitor, Kazal type 1) was over-expressed, or found in excess amounts, in prostate cancers that do not have gene fusions. The finding suggests that SPINK1 is a biomarker – a molecule in bodily fluids, blood and tissue that can be a signal of a disease – for a subtype of prostate cancer.
The findings, reported in the June issue of the journal Cancer Cell, also suggest that men with SPINK1–related prostate cancers tend to have a quicker recurrence of the disease than those with other types of prostate cancer.