A genetic test used to predict a man’s risk for prostate cancer has been developed and could potentially reduce the need for repeat biopsies in men who have had a negative biopsy. Results of the multicenter study were recently published online in the journal European Urology.
“The genetic test outperformed the PSA test in assessing cancer risk,” said Karim Kader, MD, PhD, associate clinical professor at the UC San Diego School of Medicine, coinvestigator and urologic surgeon at UC San Diego Health System. “If results of this blood test were factored into prostate cancer predictors such as total free PSA, free PSA, number of core samples taken at biopsy, and family history, we would have a more accurate picture of a whether or not a man is likely to develop the sometimes fatal disease.”
More than 241,700 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed in 2012. About 1 man in 6 will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime. During the course of diagnosing patients, more than 1 million men are biopsied each year in the United States. Of that number, approximately 30% go on to have repeat biopsies.
Kader and a team of researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine evaluated 1654 men in the Reduction by Dutasteride of Prostate Cancer Events (REDUCE) clinical trial. All the men had biopsies and consented to genetic studies that searched for the presence of germline single nucleotide polymorphisms.
“Avoiding repeat procedures, particularly in older men, can help reduce the risk of infection and potential hospitalizations,” said Kader. “The genetic score is available at any time in a man’s lifetime and could be used as a prescreening test, thus leaving aggressive PSA screening to men at a higher genetic risk.”
Source: UC San Diego.