Moncton researchers find biomarker for prostate cancer

Last Updated: Monday, December 18, 2006 | 4:26 PM AT
CBC News

Cancer researchers in Moncton have developed a tool they say will
eventually identify prostate cancer earlier and more accurately than
standard tests.

Dr. Rodney Ouellette, who is*part Atlantic Cancer Research
Institute,*leads a team of scientists that he said has come up with a
biomarker " a series of telltale genes that always appear to be active
in people with prostate cancer.

It took the scientist three years to whittle down the 20,000 genes in
the human genome to find the eight genes that have repeatedly shown up
in men with prostate cancer.

Ouellette admitted the discovery is a long way from being put to
practical use, but believes the biomarker has huge implications for men
in whom prostate cancer is suspected.

For example, testing for the genes can be accomplished in minutes with a
blood test, while results for a regular biopsy can take days.

Ouellette's team also suggests the technology could replace the PSA, the
blood test currently used to screen for prostate cancer.

PSA readings are not always reliable, occasionally coming up with false
positives or, worse, not detecting when cancer is present.

"Any time you can boost the accuracy of what exists by 10 to 20 per
cent, that translates into lives," Ouellette said.

Cancer survivor Norman Landry's initial PSA didn't show his prostate
cancer. His doctor recommended a biopsy, which revealed the growth.
Landry said*a *gene test would have been even better.
"Even when I was detected that I had cancer, my reading was very low,"
he said. "So, if I would have relied strictly on that, I probably would
have found out I had cancer when maybe it was too late."
Ouellette said his team has five to 10 years of development work
ahead*and*is*seeking a commercial partner to develop a test that
can be used in hospital labs. He believes*such a*test would be 95
per cent accurate in diagnosing a patient with prostate cancer.

Ouellette hopes his team will also be able to isolate biomarkers for
other kinds of cancer, including colon, breast ovarian and lung cancer.

The Atlantic Cancer Research Institute is located in the Georges Dumont
Hospital in Moncton.

knowledge is power - growing old is mandatory - growing wise is optional
"Many more men die with prostate cancer than of it. Growing old is
invariably fatal. Prostate cancer is only sometimes so."
http://community.webtv.net/PALMER_ENT/doc