New Tool For Prostate Cancer Diagnosis
New clinical data from a study of 570 men published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Urology1 support the use of PROGENSA PCA3 as a tool for diagnosing prostate cancer. The study confirms that PROGENSA PCA3, the world’s first gene-based urine test to help detect prostate cancer, can provide clinicians with valuable information that helps guide diagnosis.
As awareness and clinical support for PROGENSA PCA3 grows, a unique new resource regarding prostate cancer has been launched. www.PCA3.org is the first patient and professional website dedicated solely to PCA3, providing patients and healthcare professionals with information about how PCA3 can be used to help tackle the UK’s most common cancer affecting males.
Launched last year in the UK, PROGENSA PCA3 addresses some of the limitations of existing diagnostic tools. For example, Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) is commonly elevated for reasons not related to prostate cancer, and as a result, PSA testing produces many ‘false positive’ results, which can burden patients and the healthcare system. In contrast, the genetic marker PCA3 is elevated only in cancerous prostate tissue, making it a more specific indicator of cancer than PSA, potentially reducing the number of unnecessary biopsies.
“We found that the percent of biopsy-positive men identified directly increased with the PCA3 score,” commented Dr. Jack Groskopf, Director of Oncology Research and Development at Gen-Probe Incorporated and co-author of the study. “We also confirmed that the PCA3 score was independent of prostate size; this is important because PSA levels can be elevated in men who have enlarged prostates due to non-cancerous conditions.”
Men with a PCA3 score of less than five showed a positive biopsy rate of 14 percent; however, a PCA3 score greater than 100 showed a 69 percent biopsy positive rate. Results were similar regardless of a patient’s PSA levels or whether they had undergone repeat biopsies.
“PROGENSA PCA3 provides physicians with valuable information to guide biopsy decisions.” added Dr. Groskopf.
The study expands on findings from a previous study conducted by Dr. Leonard Marks of the Urological Sciences Research Foundation published in the March 2007 issue of Urology.
PROGENSA PCA3 is the first CE-Marked test to use the presence of PCA3 (a genetic marker for prostate cancer) to predict prostate cancer, and can be used in conjunction with current tests to confirm diagnosis.2-7 PCA3 is overexpressed, relative to benign cells, by 60- to 100-fold in more than 90 percent of prostate tumors. DiagnoCure Inc. (TSX: CUR) is the exclusive worldwide licensee for all diagnostic and therapeutic applications of the gene. Gen-Probe acquired exclusive worldwide diagnostic rights to the PCA3 gene from DiagnoCure in November of 2003.
Tags: Cancer, diagnosis, PROGENSA PCA3, prostate, PSA
