New Test Predicts “Deadly” Form of Prostate Cancer

A Baylor College of Medicine researcher is developing a new test to compliment the prostate specific androgen, or PSA exam for men, which detects prostate cancer.

“When added to the current PSA exam that men over age 50 should get each year, this new test will tell more specifically whether cancer cells have the potential of spreading outside the prostate,” said Timothy Thompson, M.D., Baylor professor of urology, radiology and cell biology.

The new test will check for the level of caveolin-1, a protein linked with more aggressive forms of the disease.

When prostate cancer is confined to the prostate, survival chances are excellent, Thompson said. The new marker caveolin-1, measured during a normal PSA blood test, could give physicians an upper hand in predicting aggressive cancers.

An annual PSA exam measures protein levels in blood which increase with the development of cancer. This test is still vital for catching prostate cancer early.

“However, the current PSA test does not tell us whether the cancer will turn out to be more deadly,” Thompson said.

During the past several years, Thompson and his team of researchers have identified the genes that are involved in the spread of prostate cancer. Now, they plan to use this knowledge to assess the potential of cancer to spread and to develop new therapies.

The Baylor Department of Urology research is funded through a Specialized Program of Research Excellence, or SPORE grant, from the National Cancer Institute.

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URL: http://www.tmc.edu/tmcnews/11_01_02/page_18.html