(Press-News.org) Arnhem, 11 October 2013- A new study reveals that in the prediction of treatment outcome for castration-resistant prostate cancer, a change in circulating tumour cells detection might be more accurate than the change in prostate-specific antigen levels. The findings of this award-winning study were presented at the recent EAU 13th Central European Meeting in Prague.
"The research of the circulating tumour cells (CTC) is of utmost importance, because nowadays there is no reliable marker of both cancer-specific or overall survival in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) patients," explained the lead author of the study, Dr. Otakar Čapoun, of the Department of Urology at General Teaching Hospital Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic.
"The goal of this study is to assess the possibility of the individualisation of castration-resistant prostate cancer management. In cases with no favourable change in CTC detection during chemotherapy, the early switching to another therapy should be considered," commented Čapoun on the implications of the study, which was supported by the Internal Grant Agency of the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic.
Protocol of the grant project included the collection of peripheral blood from patients with metastatic CRPC prior to docetaxel therapy and after the fourth cycle of chemotherapy (CTX). Circulating tumour cells were detected by using a method of immunomagnetic separation. In the course of the study multiplex-PCR was performed after cytolysis of CTC and the expression of tumour-associated antigens (PSA, PSMA and EGFR) was quantified.
The methodology of the study was based on verbal evaluation together with a report of the absolute values (ng/ml). The authors recorded the levels of serum PSA (sPSA) and the fragments of respective antigens before and in the course of CTX and compared the values. They also evaluated the correlation between the change of sPSA and expression of CTC antigens during CTX.
The study included 26 patients with both samples taken in 17 of them. Median age was 72 years (54-82), mean sPSA level before and after CTX was 197.6 and 120.1ng/ml, respectively. Before CTX only 2 out of 26 patients were considered CTC negative, whereas during the CTX the CTC negativity was confirmed in 9 out of 17 cases. Before CTX, positive detection of fragments of antigens for PSA, PSMA and EGFR was confirmed in 23, 16 and 2 patients, respectively, and during CTX in 8, 3 and 1 case, respectively. The sPSA level before CTX was associated with the level of fragments for PSA (p=0.0020) and PSMA (p=00.0147). During CTX the association was seen in all antigens. However neither a change in sPSA level nor a change in positive versus negative CTC statement correlated with a change of any of the tested antigens.
The study concludes that the sPSA level has the most accurate correlation with the level of gene fragment for PSA in CTC. A favourable change in CTC quantity will occur in more than a half of patients during chemotherapy, however the change in CTC detection does not correlate with the change of the sPSA level.
"This research project is divided into several arms, among others, we are investigating the feasibility of CTC cultivation and genetic profiling," commented Čapoun referring to the possibility of follow-up research.
"This gene profile will be compared with primary tumour at the time of diagnosis. In the future, this CTC profiling might be useful for even more accurate and better tailored selection of treatment for castration-resistant prostate cancer."
###
Reference: Čapoun O., et al. Prostate-specific antigen level and detection of circulating tumour cells in castration-resistant prostate cancer, Abstract C163, EAU 13th Central European Meeting.
Prostate cancer: A change in circulating tumor cells detection has high potential in the prediction
2013-10-11
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Innovation in renewable-energy technologies is booming
2013-10-11
CAMBRIDGE, MA -- The number of patents issued for renewable-energy technologies has risen sharply over the last decade, according to new research from MIT and the Santa Fe Institute (SFI). The study shows that investments in research and development, as well as in the growth of markets for these products, have helped to spur this dramatic growth in innovation.
"We were quite surprised," says Jessika Trancik, an assistant professor of engineering systems at MIT and a co-author of the new report, published in the journal PLoS ONE. Trancik -- working with Luís Bettencourt ...
Predators vs. alien: European shrimps win predatory battles with an American invader
2013-10-11
A shrimp from America has been invading Europe's rivers and lakes for several decades, but something seems to be preventing this colonist from becoming numerous and problematic, like so many other invaders - such as the Californian grey squirrel and American crayfish. Could the resident European shrimps have something to do with this?
Jaimie Dick and his colleagues mapped the occurrence of the interloper and found it only existed where native shrimps were absent or rare. When native shrimps were common, the American shrimp simply could not establish and it disappeared. ...
Fish genital shape linked to predation
2013-10-11
When predators lurk nearby, male Bahamas mosquitofish (Gambusia hubbsi) change mating strategies, rejecting elaborate courting rituals for more frequent and sometimes forceful encounters with females.
But as a recent North Carolina State University study shows, mating strategies aren't the only things changing for G. hubbsi when predators abound. The shape and size of the male fish's genitalia are also linked to the presence or absence of predators.
NC State Ph.D. student Justa Heinen-Kay and assistant professor of biological sciences R. Brian Langerhans show, in ...
Compound in grapes, red wine could help treat multiple types of cancer, study finds
2013-10-11
VIDEO:
A recent study by a University of Missouri researcher shows that resveratrol, a compound found in grape skins and red wine, can make certain tumor cells more susceptible to radiation...
Click here for more information.
COLUMBIA, Mo. — A recent study by a University of Missouri researcher shows that resveratrol, a compound found in grape skins and red wine, can make certain tumor cells more susceptible to radiation treatment. This research, which studied melanoma cells, ...
New technology can prevent cellular overload, dropped calls
2013-10-11
When a natural disaster strikes and too many people take to their mobile phones at once, cellular networks easily overload. But a University of British Columbia graduate student has developed a solution to ensure that calls don't get dropped and texts make it to their destination.
In a study published in the journal IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, Mai Hassan, a PhD student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, found a way to opportunistically use television and radio channels to transmit cellular signals when systems are pushed beyond ...
UC Irvine scientists help identify possible botulism blocker
2013-10-11
Irvine, Calif., Oct. 11, 2013 — U.S. and German scientists have decoded a key molecular gateway for the toxin that causes botulism, pointing the way to treatments that can keep the food-borne poison out of the bloodstream.
Study leaders Rongsheng Jin, associate professor of physiology & biophysics at UC Irvine, and Andreas Rummel of the Institute for Toxicology at Germany's Hannover Medical School created a three-dimensional crystal model of a complex protein compound in the botulinum neurotoxin. This compound binds to the inner lining of the small intestine and allows ...
Disrupting an antioxidant pathway prevents heart disease caused by reductive stress
2013-10-11
(SALT LAKE CITY)—University of Utah researchers have found that deficiency of an antioxidant response protein called nuclear erythroid-2 like factor-2 (Nrf2) delays or prevents hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a type of a heart failure in which the heart muscle grows abnormally thick.
This new finding, published in the Oct. 1, 2013, issue of Cardiovascular Research, suggests that restoring the normal balance of reduction-oxidation chemical reactions in the body could prevent heart disease and other conditions caused by reductive stress.
Nuclear erythroid-2 like factor-2 ...
The perils of texting while driving
2013-10-11
US research reveals that 4 out of 5 college student drivers have used their cell phones to send or receive text messages while driving despite the majority recognizing that the activity represents a risk. Garold Lantz and Sandra Loeb of the McGowan School of Business, at King's College, in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, found that male drivers are more likely to engage in texting while driving but consider themselves more proficient drivers than others and so less likely to endanger themselves or others while doing so.
Analysis indicates 'texting impulsiveness' is positively ...
Geographic location may help explain why Hispanics face disparities in kidney transplantation
2013-10-11
Washington, DC (October 10, 2013) — In the United States, Hispanics with kidney failure are less likely than non-Hispanic whites to receive a kidney transplant largely due to their blood type and because of where they live, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN). The findings highlight the need to implement new deceased donor organ allocation policies that distribute organs over wider geographic areas to help reduce barriers to transplantation for Hispanics.
Hispanics represent the ...
Study finds racial and social disparities in kidney allocation among young transplant recipients
2013-10-11
Washington, DC (October 10, 2013) — Among younger kidney transplant recipients, a disproportionate number of African Americans and individuals with less education receive organs that are of lower quality or are considered marginal, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN). The findings suggest that there are racial and social disparities in the allocation of transplanted organs that need to be addressed.
Older kidney disease patients who have a high risk of dying while on dialysis may benefit ...