Abstract: Prostate cancer is the common male cancer mainly found in the glandula surrounding the beginning of urethra. Early symptoms are not obvious. With the development of the disease, some symptoms may appear, such as dysuria, weak or interrupted urine flow, hematuria, osteodynia etc. Prostate cancer marker test is specified below, including PSA, PSP, PCA3, HOXB13, PTEN, TP53, p63, VEGFA.
Keywords: Prostate Cancer Marker, Prostate Cancer Test, Tumor Marker, Male Reproductive Health
1. Prostate Cancer in Men
The global cancer data statistics in 2020 show the incidence rate of prostate cancer ranked fourthly, only inferior to breast cancer, lung cancer and colorectal cancer. In 2022, about 126,000 Chinese men were diagnosed with prostate cancer, about 56,000 of whom died of the disease. In the same year, American new cases of prostate cancer were 217,000, 35,000 of whom were dead.
2. Tumor Markers for Prostate Cancer
2.1. PSA
Prostate specific antigen(PSA) usually exists in proteins produced by prostatic epithelial cells, which plays an important role in maintaining male reproductive health, such as assistance to normal semen liquefaction. Due to the specific expression in prostate tissue, PSA is the important marker for testing prostate health. High level of PSA may indicate the abnormal prostate, e.g. inflammation or more severe disease. Since 1994, PSA testing and rectal examination have been applied in aided diagnosis of prostate related diseases.
2.2. PSP
PSP94(also called PIP) is the prostate secretory protein containing 94 amino acids. Conversion of hormone-dependent to hormone-independent process weakens expression of PSP94, which nearly disappears in advanced metastatic prostate cancer. Due to the change of expression, PSP94 is the potential clinical marker in prognosis and diagnosis of prostate cancer, contributing to recognition of aggressive prostate cancer patients.
2.3. PCA3
Prostate cancer antigen 3(PCA3) is highly expressed in prostate cancer. FDA has approved that Progensa PCA3 detection can help for diagnosis, especially suitable for negative biopsy. The score of PCA3 is based on the proportion between PCA3 and PSA mRNA in the urine. The specificity of detected aggressive prostate cancer can be improved to 33% together with T2:ERG test, also maintaining 95% sensitivity. Researches show prediction of aggressive prostate cancer by PCA3 is better than PSA test. Besides, high level of PCA3 is related to more serious cancer.
2.4. HOXB13
The mutation of HOXB13 G84E increase the risk of early-onset and hereditary prostate cancer by 2.93 times. High expression is relevant to poor prognoses like high score of Gleason, Early PSA recurrence etc. As the metastatic prostate cancer marker, the specificity and sensitivity of HOXB13 are 94% and 100% respectively, which are better than PSA.
2.5. PTEN
Deficiency of PTEN appears in about 20% primary prostate tumor and 50% castration-resistant tumor, related to tumor update, adverse surgical outcomes, development of the disease, fatal prostate cancer, biochemical recurrence and short survival time etc. Deficiency of PTEN in mCRPC patients is related to imaging-based progression-free survival when they’re subject to specific treatment. Researches show deficiency of PTEN also increase metastasis and mortality risk. As the independent prognostic marker for postoperative death and metastasis, PTEN is also related to poor therapeutic effects of Abiraterone and high level of aggressive Gleason.
2.6. TP53
The mutation of TP53 gene in prostate cancer is related to aggressive diseases, poor metastasis-free survival, increased recurrent risk, shorter overall survival and decreased imaging-based progression-free survival. Gain-of-function mutation of TP53 is also related to the resistance of mCRPC patients to the treatment of Enzalutamide or Abiraterone. Researches show 0.6% of prostate cancer patients carry germinal variation of TP53, relevant to aggressive diseases. SNPs which is on the binding site of TP53 can be used as the biomarker for predicting the development of the disease and mortality rate.
2.7. p63
As the p53 protein family member, p63 is involved in regulating cell proliferation, survival, apoptosis, differentiation and senescence. p63 is mainly located in the nucleus of prostatic basal cell, and not expressed in common prostatic acinar adenocarcinoma. The abnormal expression of p63 in prostate cancer may indicate a unique cancer subtype. Researches show further investigation on p63 helps to confirm the cell origin of prostate cancer. As the biomarker, p63 may be applied in the diagnosis and classification.
2.8. VEGFA
VEGFA shows higer expression level in prostate cancer than benign prostatic hyperplasia(BPH), related to invasiveness and grading of tumor. Compared with BPH, the expression of VEGFA in prostate cancer obviously up-regulate, indicating VEGFA may be a potential marker for diagnosis and prognosis of prostate cancer.
3. Prostate Cancer Marker Blood Test
Testing for prostate cancer usually includes digital rectal examination(DRE) and serum PSA test. Doctors evaluate physical properties of prostate via DRE. PSA test measures the level of specific antigen in the blood. Abnormal results may conduct further imaging examinations, such as transrectal ultrasonography(TRUS), MRI and prostate tissue biopsy. Molecular biology detection is applied in recognition of cancers caused by gene mutation and guidance of individualized treatment. These detection methods help to evaluate whether prostate cancer or any stage exist.
4. Recommended Products
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Target |
Antibody |
Recombinant Protein |
ELISA Kit |
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PSA |
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PCA3 |
PCA3 antibody |
PCA3 recombinant protein |
PCA3 ELISA Kit |
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VEGFA |
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TPS |
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LDH |
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Beclin 1 |
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p63 |
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TP53 |
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PTEN |
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NKX3.1 |
NKX3.1 ELISA Kit |
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GLUT1 |
REFERENCES
[1] CDHu40: a novel marker gene set of neuroendocrine prostate cancer, PMID: 39318189.
[2] Prognostic marker VPS72 could promote the malignant progression of prostate cancer, PMID: 38858662.