does this have any bearing ....? (note: I do **NOT**
understand what I am about to post)
1: Int J Oncol. 2003 Jul;23(1):221-8. Related Articles, Links
Multiple tumor marker analyses (PSA, hK2, PSCA, trp-p8) in primary prostate cancers using quantitative RT-PCR.
Fuessel S, Sickert D, Meye A, Klenk U, Schmidt U, Schmitz M, Rost AK, Weigle B, Kiessling A, Wirth MP.
Department of Urology, Technical University Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
The identification of new diagnostic markers and potential treatment targets for prostate carcinoma (PCa) necessitates the evaluation of expression patterns in both malignant and non-malignant tissue specimens. In this study, we compared the mRNA expression of recently identified prostate-associated genes, prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA) and transient receptor potential p8 (trp-p8), to the mRNA expression of the most commonly used markers for PCa, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and human kallikrein 2 (hK2). For these four candidates we performed highly specific quantitative real-time LightCycler RT-PCR assays with cDNA originating from matched tissue specimens of 40 patients with primary PCa. The highest transcript amounts were found for PSA in malignant as well as in non-malignant tissue specimens followed by hK2, trp-p8 and PSCA with an mRNA expression remarkably lower. The relative transcript levels of PSA, hK2 and trp-p8 were elevated in malignant in comparison to non-malignant tissues, but only for trp-p8 this increased expression was statistically significant. Focussing on organ confined tumors, we found a significant difference of the mRNA expression of PSA and trp-p8 between malignant and non-malignant tissue specimens. The marker trp-p8 is also suited to differentiate between the tumor stages when quantifying its transcript levels within tumor tissue specimens. The evaluation of the mRNA expression patterns of these markers by quantitative real-time RT-PCR could provide new tools for differential diagnosis and molecular staging.
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According to our data, the novel marker trp-p8 seems to represent a highly prostate-specific and PCa-associated gene qualifying it as a potential target for specific therapies.
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PMID: 12792797 [PubMed - in process]
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
John McCarthy |
