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Posted on May 01, 2008, 8 p.m.
By Jeanelle Topping
Spanish researchers have claimed major advances in the analysis of prostate cancer screenings, promising to deliver potential sufferers from the 'limbo' of inconclusive diagnosis and the eventuality of repeated needle biopsies.
Spanish researchers have claimed major advances in the analysis of prostate cancer screenings, promising to deliver potential sufferers from the 'limbo' of inconclusive diagnosis and the eventuality of repeated needle biopsies.
Reported in the May 1st issue of American Association for Cancer Research journal Clinical Cancer Research, the research team from the Vall d'Hebron Hospital Research Institute in Barcelona has claimed a major breakthrough in diagnosis of the condition, through close analysis of high grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (HG-PIN).
According to the group, the expression of the PTOV1 gene in HG-PIN lesions can be linked to prostate cancer development, with higher levels providing strong evidence of likely cancer development.
Dr Rosanna Paciucci, a researcher at the Vall d'Hebron Hospital Research Institute in Barcelona, said: "This is the first HG-PIN biomarker to be associated with prostate cancer development.
"Those patients with a high PTOV1 score should undergo an immediate repeat biopsy. We estimate that we can save 40 percent of unnecessary biopsies - those that are repetitively negative and contain HG-PIN lesions that do not develop into cancer."
The researchers are yet to uncover the exact biochemical function of the PTOV1 gene, but claim to have found evidence that the protein promotes the proliferation of cancer cells when "over-expressed" as in prostate cancer cells.
