A microRNA-based test for prostate cancer could help distinguish
aggressive tumors from slow growing ones and prevent unnecessary biopsies.
AsianScientist
(Jun 11, 2014) –
The discovery that seminal fluid (semen) contains biomarkers for prostate
cancer could lead to improved diagnosis and management of the disease. A study
published in the journal Endocrine-Related Cancer has shown
that the presence of certain microRNAs in seminal fluid indicates not only
whether a man has prostate cancer, but also the severity of the cancer.
University
of Adelaide research fellow and lead author Dr. Luke Selth says that the
commonly used prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test is by itself not ideal to
test for the cancer.
“While
the PSA test is very sensitive, it is not highly specific for prostate cancer,”
Dr. Selth says. “This results in many unnecessary biopsies of non-malignant
disease. More problematically, PSA testing has resulted in substantial
over-diagnosis and over-treatment of slow growing, non-lethal prostate cancers
that could have been safely left alone.
“Biomarkers
that can accurately detect prostate cancer at an early stage and identify
aggressive tumours are urgently needed to improve patient care. Identification
of such biomarkers is a major focus of our research,” he says.
Using
samples from 60 men, Dr. Selth and colleagues discovered a number of small
ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules called microRNAs in seminal fluid that are
known to be increased in prostate tumours. The study showed that some of these
microRNAs were surprisingly accurate in detecting cancer.
“The
presence of these microRNAs enabled us to more accurately discriminate between
patients who had cancer and those who didn’t, compared with a standard PSA
test,” Dr. Selth says.
“We
also found that the one specific microRNA, miR-200b, could distinguish between
men with low grade and higher grade tumours. This is important because, as a
potential prognostic tool, it will help to indicate the urgency and type of
treatment required.”
This
research builds on previous work by Dr. Selth’s team, published in the British
Journal of Cancer, which demonstrated that microRNAs in the blood can
predict men who are likely to relapse after surgical removal of their prostate
cancer.
The
research team is now expanding on these studies using larger patient groups to
validate their findings.
The
article can be found at: Selth et al. (2014) Human Seminal Fluid as
a Source of Prostate Cancer Specific microRNA Biomarkers.
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