Oxford Gene Technology (OGT) has presented potentially highly significant, preliminary data on the development of a panel of biomarkers for the diagnosis of prostate cancer.
In a pilot study, a set of biomarkers was identified that can distinguish prostate cancer from control samples with both sensitivity and specificity above 90 per cent.
The data was presented at the Fourth American Association for Cancer Research International Conference - Molecular Diagnostics in Cancer Therapeutic Development.
Currently, the most effective screening tests available for prostate cancer are based on a single biomarker - a prostate-specific antigen (PSA).
Screening for prostate cancer using PSA is controversial as it is known to have low specificity (generally less than 50 per cent), which generates high false-positive rates, resulting in many unnecessary surgical and radiotherapy procedures.
The development of auto-antibodies associated with prostate cancer, and their appearance prior to symptoms in other cancers, makes them attractive as potential biomarkers for early diagnosis of prostate cancer.
OGT has developed the Sense Proteomic 'functional protein' array platform, which uses more than 1,000 correctly folded proteins to detect auto-antibodies in prostate cancer serum samples.
Using data analysis strategies, the company has identified panels of multiple biomarkers which may have clinical utility in the diagnosis of prostate cancer.
In this new pilot study presented at the conference, 73 prostate cancer samples and 60 control samples were used to identify a set of biomarkers, which can distinguish prostate cancer from control samples with both sensitivity and specificity above 90 per cent.
The trial has been rigorously designed, and as well as 400 prostate cancer samples and an equal number of matched normal samples, there are around 150 samples of other cancers and several hundred samples from patients shown to have other diseases of the prostate.
The latter can present similar symptoms to prostate cancer and can, in many cases, raise PSA levels and trigger a biopsy.
OGT expects its biomarker panel to discriminate between prostate cancer and these 'interfering' diseases.
Results from this follow-on study are due in the first half of 2011.
