Originally published October 19 2005
Research shows protein tests could save prostate cancer victims
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The Fox Chase Cancer Center team believes that a protein called MDM2 could prove a better marker to test for the onset of prostate cancer.
Checking for a protein called MDM2 could improve current testing methods which are less than perfect, the Fox Chase Cancer Center team hope.
To predict prostate cancer outcomes, doctors currently rely on measures that suggest how far the tumour has spread and how abnormal the cancer cells appear under the microscope.
They also use blood tests to look for a marker called prostate specific antigen (PSA), but the problem is that some men with prostate cancer do not have a raised PSA level and some men with a raised PSA do not have prostate cancer.
For every 100 men with a raised PSA, only about a third will have any cancer cells in their prostate.
And a stable PSA or a drop in the level with treatment for those diagnosed with prostate cancer does not always mean that the cancer therapy is working as PSA levels can fluctuate for other reasons.
Dr Alan Pollack and colleagues looked at the amount of a protein called MDM2 in prostate cancer cells to see if this might improve prognosis prediction.
MDM2 is involved in regulating cell growth and has been linked to prostate tumours and other cancers by scientists in the past.
Among 469 men with prostate cancer who had been treated with radiation and drugs, MDM2 appeared to reflect which had responded well to these therapies and which had not.
Dr Pollack told the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology meeting: "New biomarkers hold promise in strengthening our ability to predict response to treatment.
"By identifying more virulent forms of prostate cancer, we may be able to tailor treatment or develop therapies to target the abnormalities identified."
"If this new marker fulfils its promise, doctors will be able to give much clearer, timely guidance to men on their treatment options and what outcomes to expect."
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