Thursday, Feb. 3 (PCF) -- Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) funded researcher Dr. Ronald DePinho at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Massachusetts reported a new test that may classify aggressive cancers better than Gleason Grade scoring. DePinho received a $100,000 Research Award from the Prostate Cancer Foundation in 2006 in support of his molecular and genetic research.

DePinho’s team of 28, including PCF Young Investigator Lorelei A. Mucci, ScD, MPH, examined 405 tumor specimens from men diagnosed with prostate cancer. Using a new test, the team looked for a specific “four-gene signature.” The combined activity of these four genes appears to play a role in a cancer’s ability to grow and invade other tissues. (And one gene, SSP1, is an entirely new discovery in the field of human prostate cancer research.)

When the new gene test was combined with current indicators, improvement in accuracy rose to 91 percent from 84 percent.

For patients, DePinho’s team’s findings mean an additional test, beyond traditional Gleason Grade scoring, could be offered to patients in the coming years. It would allow researchers to better match aggressive treatments to those patients needing them. Similar types of gene tests, determining the need for adjuvant therapy in breast and colon cancers, have improved the overall survival of patients when utilized in specific states of their treatment.

DePinho and team are currently working with Metamark Genetics Inc., the National Institute of Health (NIH), PCF and other organizations to coordinate studies in thousands of men to confirm these promising, but preliminary findings.

Read more:

• About the research: Nature
• About the breast and colon cancer diagnostic tests: OncotypeDx
• About Dr. DePinho