blood markers

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3 March 2008 2008-03-03T00:00:00.0000000+01:00

Blood marker may predict prostate cancer spread
MedWire News: Prostate cancer patients with high levels of a blood marker called endoglin are at greater risk of their cancer spreading to their pelvic lymph nodes than those with low blood levels of endoglin, US research shows.

"For prostate cancer, we have hit the limit of our ability to classify risk in these patients before initial surgery. We currently use prostate specific antigen, Gleason grade and a rectal exam, but the predictive value of those three tests is inadequate for predicting what cancers will spread," explained lead researcher Dr Shahrokh Shariat, from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

As blood levels of endoglin - a protein found on cell surfaces - have previously been shown to predict the spread of colon and breast cancer, Dr Shariat and team studied whether blood levels of this marker could also predict the spread of prostate cancer.

The researchers used a commercially available blood test to measure endoglin levels in 425 patients who had undergone surgery to remove their prostates and associated pelvic lymph nodes.

Analysis revealed that blood endoglin levels accurately indicated a man's risk of prostate cancer spreading to his pelvic lymph nodes. Indeed, each 1-ng/ml increase in blood levels of endoglin was associated with a 17% increased risk of prostate cancer spread, called metastasis.

Dr Shariat concluded: "Use of plasma endoglin could help identify patients at risk for lymph node metastasis who should undergo pelvic lymphadenectomy [lymph node removal]."

He also said that the use of such a blood test may spare patients at low risk of prostate cancer spread from undergoing surgery to remove the lymph nodes and the risk of associated complications.

However, Dr Shariat added that further research is needed to confirm the findings before such a test can be used routinely in the management of men with prostate cancer.

The research is published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.

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