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| April 04, 2002 |
Today's News
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Analysis of upregulated gene may identify prostate cancer
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NEW YORK, Apr 3, 2002 (Praxis Press)Measuring expression of the gene alpha-methylacyl coenzyme a racemase (AMACR ) may be useful in diagnosing prostate cancer, according to a study involving microarray analysis in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Limitations of the serum prostate-specific antigen test include lack of prostate cancer sensitivity and specificity, so improvements of testing are needed.
University of Michigan researchers examined gene expression data sets from four independent DNA microarray analyses of 128 specimens. Of these specimens, 75% had significant levels of AMACR. The researchers then validated these findings using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), immunoblot, and immunohistochemical analysis. Clinical utility of AMACR was also evaluated using 94 prostate needle biopsy specimens, which demonstrated 97% sensitivity and 100% specificity for detecting prostate cancer
"AMACR may be a useful addition to current diagnostic tools for detecting prostate cancer, although these findings require further evaluation in larger studies, the authors conclude. |
Reference: Rubin MA, Zhou M, Dhanasekaran SM et al.: Alpha-methylacyl coenzyme a racemase as a tissue biomarker for prostate cancer. JAMA. 2002 Apr 03; 287: 1662-1670.
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Hormone replacement therapy linked to ovarian cancer
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NEW YORK, Apr 3, 2002 (Praxis Press)Some forms of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), including estrogens alone and estrogens combined with sequential progestins, may be associated with a modest increase in risk of epithelial ovarian cancer, according to findings of a case-control study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Previous studies suggest that HRT increases the risk of endometrial cancer and epithelial ovarian cancer, but data is limited and does not address risk associated with various forms of HRT.
Swedish researchers identified 655 women between the ages of 50 and 74 with epithelial ovarian cancer and compared them to nearly 4,000 cancer-free women. The women completed questionnaires about their HRT use and ovarian cancer risk factors.
Women who had used estrogens alone had a 43% increased risk of developing epithelial ovarian cancer compared with women who had never used such therapy. But women who had used estrogens combined with sequential progestins had a 54% increased risk of developing epithelial ovarian cancer compared with women who had never used this type of therapy or who had used estrogens combined with continuous progestins. Women who had undergone hysterectomies were not at increased risk of ovarian cancer.
The authors caution that the increase in risk is modest, however. They point out that of 1,000 women taking estrogens alone or with sequential progestins, only two or three will develop ovarian cancer as a result. |
Reference: Riman T, Dickman PW, Nilsson S et al.: Hormone replacement therapy and the risk of invasive epithelial ovarian cancer in Swedish women. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2002 Apr 03; 94: 497-504.
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