NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The novel gene D-PCa-2 (Dresden prostate carcinoma 2) may be of use in identifying metastatic prostate cancer cells in the lymph nodes, German researchers report in the May issue of the International Journal of Cancer.
Dr. Bernd Weigle of the Technical University of Dresden and colleagues came to this conclusion after examining an expressed sequence database and identifying D-PCa-2.
They found that a transcript was highly overexpressed in prostate cancer tissue.
Examination of 18 samples of prostate tissue from patients with and those without prostate cancer showed that all had evidence of this highly specific transcript.
Using this approach, the researchers were then able to detect 1 lymph node prostate cancer cell in 100,000 normal lymph node cells.
Moreover, when 22 lymph nodes from prostate cancer patients with or without lymph node metastases were evaluated using the D-PCa-2 technique, the results were in agreement with the histopathological findings.
Thus, the researchers conclude that D-PCa-2 is a transcript “with high tissue specificity and with a potential application in the diagnosis of prostate carcinoma.”
Source: Int J Cancer 2004;109:882-892. [ Google search on this article ]
MeSH Headings:Biological Factors: Immunologic and Biological Factors: Tumor Markers, Biological: Biological Markers: Chemical Actions and Uses: Chemical Actions: Chemicals and DrugsCopyright © 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
