Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have shown that the presence of a particular protein in biopsied prostate tissue substantially increases the likelihood that cancer will develop in that organ. The discovery may help physicians decide how closely to monitor men potentially at risk for the cancer. The findings, reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, are the first to quantify in a clinical trial the increased risk of prostate cancer development from the protein ERG.
Traditional means of determining risk of prostate cancer—blood tests for the protein prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and biopsies—do not always correlate well with patients’ chances of dying from the disease. Decisions on what to do with the results of these tests can be difficult, leaving doctors and patients frustrated and unsure of how to proceed.
Investigators found that 53% of men whose prostate biopsies showed expression of ERG protein developed invasive prostate cancer, compared to 35% of men whose biopsies were ERG-negative. All of the biopsies were classified as having high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN), which are lesions that may or may not morph into cancer.
The findings mean that potentially thousands of men a year—those with ERG-positive HGPIN biopsies—may benefit from increased surveillance and early treatment, while those whose HGPIN biopsies come back ERG-negative may be able to avoid unnecessary future biopsies. Read the study abstract.
