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A new urine test can help aid early detection of and treatmentdecisions about prostate cancer , a study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive CancerCenter and the Michigan Center for Translational Pathology finds. The test supplements an elevated prostate specific antigen, or PSA,screening result, and could help some men delay or avoid a needlebiopsy while pointing out men at highest risk for clinicallysignificant prostate cancer. The test looks for a genetic anomaly that occurs in about half ofall prostate cancers, an instance of two genes changing places andfusing together. This gene fusion, TMPRSS2:ERG, is believed tocause prostate cancer. Studies in prostate tissues show that thegene fusion almost always indicates cancer . But because the gene fusion is present only half the time, theresearchers also included another marker, PCA3. The combination wasmore predictive of cancer than either marker alone. Results of the study appear Aug. 3 in Science TranslationalMedicine. "Testing for TMPRSS2:ERG and PCA3 significantly improves theability to predict whether a man has prostate cancer," says leadauthor Scott Tomlins, M.D., Ph.D., a pathology resident at the U-MHealth System. "We think this is going to be a tool to help menwith elevated PSA decide if they need a biopsy or if they can delayhaving a biopsy and follow their PSA and urine TMPRSS2:ERG andPCA3." The researchers looked at urine samples from 1,312 men at threeacademic medical centers and seven community-based hospitals. Themen all had elevated PSA levels and had gone on to receive either abiopsy or prostatectomy, surgery to remove their prostates. Theresearchers evaluated the urine samples for TMPRSS2:ERG and PCA3and stratified patients into low, intermediate and high scores,indicating their risk of cancer. They then compared this to biopsyresults. Biopsies indicated cancer in 21 percent of men from the low-scoregroup, 43 percent in the intermediate group and 69 percent in thehigh group. Further, the urine test scores correlated with howaggressive the cancer was, based on tumor size and Gleason score, ameasure of how abnormal the cells look. Only 7 percent of men inthe low-score group had an aggressive tumor while 40 percent ofthose in the high-score group did. "Many more men have elevated PSA than actually have cancer but itcan be difficult to determine this without biopsy. This test willhelp in this regard. The hope is that this test could be anintermediate step before getting a biopsy," says senior studyauthor Arul Chinnaiyan, M.D., Ph.D., director of the MichiganCenter for Translational Pathology and S.P. Hicks Professor ofPathology at the U-M Medical School. Chinnaiyan is also a HowardHughes Medical Institute researcher. Prostate biopsies are done with a needle in an office setting, butthey do pose some discomfort and risk to the patient. In addition,a biopsy can offer an incomplete picture since urologists aretesting the prostate as a whole, rather than a specific lesion. The combined TMPRSS2:ERG and PCA3 test is not yet available as aprostate cancer screening tool. The Michigan Center forTranslational Pathology is working with Gen-Probe Inc., which haslicensed the technology, and hopes to offer it to U-M patientswithin the year. U-M currently offers PCA3 screening alone asfollow-up to elevated PSA. Prostate cancer statistics: 217,730 Americans will be diagnosedwith prostate cancer this year and 32,050 will die from thedisease, according to the American Cancer Society Source: University of Michigan Health System Additional References Citations. I am an expert from exhibition-boothdisplay.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Modular Exhibits , China Exhibition Booth Display, 10x20 Trade Show Booth,and more.
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