Scientists from The Institute of Cancer Research have developed a technique which will markedly help in predicting the behaviour of prostate cancer.
At present, prostate cancer tests - needle biopsies, blood and urine samples - are unable to accurately predict how aggressive the cancer is and whether it is likely to progress, resulting in thousands of men undergoing radical preventative surgery which may be unnecessary.
A study - published online today in the British Journal of Cancer - describes a simple and highly reliable technique, known as the 'Checkerboard Tissue Microarray (TMA) Method' which can be carried out on prostate cancer needle biopsies. The Checkerboard TMA Method looks for multiple markers of various genes associated with prostate cancer, including the E2F3 gene. Overexpression of the E2F3 gene, first identified at The Institute of Cancer Research, is a marker of how aggressive the prostate cancer will be.
The new technique will allow the investigation of an enormous untapped resource of clinical specimens obtained at the time of diagnosis of cancer, in order to identify markers of the cancer's aggressiveness. The technique will be pivotal in developing a test for prostate cancer aggressiveness which may ultimately prevent thousands of men undergoing unnecessary surgery, with its often associated severe side effects including incontinence and impotence.