Genito-urinary cancer: Molecular diagnostics
Quantitative RT-PCR to study of metastatic behaviour and disease progression in prostate cancer.
There is however considerable uncertainty regarding treatment of prostate cancer. The presence or absence of metastases and the likelihood of clinical progression is a critical factor in determining the optimal management of patients. Current Staging modalities are unable to adequately predict the natural history of the disease, resulting in inappropriate patient management with its inherent morbidity. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is a very sensitive method for the detection of prostate epithelial cells (PECs) in the blood, bone marrow and lymph nodes. The aims of this study are to develop a quantitative real time RT-PCR assay for reliable detection and quantification of PECs in the blood and bone marrow of patients with CaP using a panel of markers. Subsequently we hope to correlate PEC numbers and marker profiles with stage of disease, clinical course and current predictors of disease outcome. The battery of makers will maximise assay sensitivity, while quantitation adds an additional dimension to the analysis.
Spectroscopic Markers for the Prediction of Prostate Cancer Metastasis
Current staging modalities are unable to accurately predict the pr ognosis of prostate cancer (CaP) resulting in inappropriate patient management and its inherent morbidity. New procedures to identify the more aggressive cancers are urgently needed. We have developed a novel methodology based on infrared spectroscopic (FTIR) and Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) observations of biochemical features to distinguish normal, benign and malignant prostate tissue (E Gazi et al, 2003a, 2003b). Our Current aims are to consolidate these preliminary investigations using blind trials of archived CaP tissue. Moreover we seek to extend this research to correlate spectral observations with patient outcomes thereby developing a rapid, new tool for predicting tumour development, progression and metastatic potential (see below).
