New Blood Test Could Improve Prostate Cancer Diagnosis

by Paromita Datta published on -

You may not have to depend on biopsies for diagnosing prostate cancer. A new blood test developed by the Barts Cancer Institute, UK, published in The Journal of Urology, detects circulating tumor cells for a non-intrusive, but highly accurate cancer diagnosis. The blood test was developed to improve diagnosis through PSA blood test, which usually requires a biopsy, resulting in over-diagnosis and over-treatment. [1]

To develop the test, the team had to come up with the right cancer cell numbers in patients. 98 pre-biopsy patients and 155 patients who had not received any treatment were selected for this purpose. They studied the RNA of the patients for gene expression analysis. The team analyzed the circulating tumor cells in different patients to identify risk groups as well as clinically significant prostate cancer scores.

A woman clinician drawing blood from a young girl.

Consequently, a 12-gene panel prognosis was identified. When this data is combined with PSA levels and multi-parametric MRI, the team could reach very high levels of accuracy in prostate cancer diagnosis. This reduces the requirement of a biopsy and gives diagnosticians a more accurate prognosis of the diseases.

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About the Author

Paromita Datta covers the latest health and wellness trends for Organic Facts. An ex-journalist who specialized in health and entertainment news, Paromita was responsible for managing a health supplement for The New Indian Express, a leading national daily in India. She has completed her post-graduation in Business Administration from the University of Rajasthan and her diploma in journalism from YMCA, Delhi. She has completed an e-course, Introduction to Food and Health, from Stanford University, US.

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