New Biomarker for Prostate Cancer

PROTEIN ARRAY ACCURATE
FOR PROSTATE CA
A panel of prostate cancer-derived
autoantibodies distinguished cancer
from benign prostatic hyperplasia and
healthy tissue with greater than 90%
accuracy, according to a preliminary
report from the 2010 American Association
for Cancer Research meeting.
The functional protein microarray had
similar accuracy for detecting cancer
(sensitivity) and for ruling it out when
used to evaluate noncancerous tissue
(specificity).
Prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing
also has a sensitivity of about 90% but a
specificity of less than 50%, John Anson,
PhD, said at a press briefing during
the American Association for Cancer
Research International Conference on
Molecular Diagnostics in Cancer Therapeutic
Development.
“What that means is there are lots of
potential false-positives,” said Anson, of
Oxford Gene Technology in the UK.
“What that translates to in clinical practice
is that a lot of men are going on for
unnecessary diagnostic procedures, such
as needle biopsies, and even radical
prostatectomy, which perhaps are not
required. Biomarker panels offer the
potential to significantly improve detection
of prostate cancer