Genetic Test to Detect Prostate Cancer Possible in Three Years

British scientists have begun working on a test they say could be used in screening programs organized for early detection of prostate cancer. The scientists said yesterday the test, which would enable identification of men with prostate cancer risk, could be ready as early as within the next three years.

Every year, thousands of men in Britain are diagnosed with prostate cancer, and the test would be a very good way of ensuring an increase in the survival rate among these men, as early detection is the key to surviving prostate cancer.

Work on the test started after a key study involving almost 2,000 patients suffering from cancer. The study itself enabled identification of seven genetic markers linked to cancer, each of which was responsible for an almost 6-% increase in the possibility of prostate cancer occurrence.

The results of the study were key factors in ensuring the work on the test, which would be the first such reliable test for identifying men with maximum risk of getting the disease. Not just that, the findings also increase the chances of new drug therapies that could be used to fight the disease.

Lead author of the study, which was conducted at the Institute for Cancer Research in Sutton, Surrey, Dr. Rosalind Eeles, said, “We are entering an era of very exciting medicine. This kind of genetic medicine will definitely happen and I definitely think it will deliver.”

As of now, the screening for prostate cancer is dependent basically on the PSA (prostate specific antigen) test, a blood test that is not too reliable. Patients whose test results show a high reading are asked to undergo further tests, and also a biopsy. However, the unreliability of the test has been a key factor in the decision not to make the test available for all males above 50, unlike in the US.

In comparison, the new test in question would be based on the latest work, which resulted in the identification of genetic markers that are present in over 50% men diagnosed with prostate cancer. The discovery of the markers came about when Dr. Eeles’ team did a comparative study of the DNA of healthy males with that of the cancer patients’.

During the course of the study, the team collected DNA samples from 1,854 men of a maximum age of 60 years who had either been diagnosed with the disease or had a family history. They then compared this DNA with the DNA they had collected from 1,894 men whose PSA tests showed they were at low risk of contracting the disease.

Essentially, in the process of comparing the two types of DNA samples, the scientists were able to identify seven ‘spelling errors’ in the genetic code, which had robust links to cancer.

The scientists found the gene MSMB to have a part to play in the recurrence of prostate cancer after treatment. They also found the gene could be used in the screening procedure as well. Another gene, which seems a good target for new drugs being developed for the disease, is the LMTK2 gene.

On the basis of these findings, which have been reported in Nature Genetics, a journal, the scientists are now looking to examine if, by screening men for the presence of the genetic markers, it would be possible to identify people at possible risk of the disease.

Statistical data shows prostate cancer to be one of the most regularly found forms of cancer in males, with more than 32,000 British men being diagnosed each year and 10,000 of them dying from it.