UPDATE - Issue 23 - Autumn 2005
Is it a Tiger? Or a Pussycat?
The patient wants to know whether his newly diagnosed prostate cancer is aggressive or relatively slow growing. So too does the NHS, for it costs large sums to exclude diagnoses of cancer once raised PSAs have been found and even more if prostate glands are removed or treated unnecessarily.
A new technique has been developed at the Institute of Cancer Research that can markedly improve the testing of biopsy cores. It is called the Checkerboard Tissue Microarray method. It facilitates looking for multiple markers in each tissue sample including the E2F3 gene which, if over-expressed, indicates aggressiveness. The technique will be pivotal in developing a test for aggressiveness which may ultimately prevent thousands of men undergoing unnecessary surgery with the associated side effects of impotence and, less often, incontinence.
pivotal in developing a test for aggressiveness
Since discovering the E2F3 gene the team at the Institute of Cancer Research has committed to developing a test for it. The new technique is a major step forward in developing such a test. It involves embedding tissue samples in paraffin blocks, cutting these into cubes and reorienting them to expose a cross section of the sample. These are then sliced and stained for microscopic examination.
By studying all the data available it is already possible to give a very good estimate of whether a man is being attacked by a tiger or is host to a pussycat. This new test will add valuable evidence to that which may already be obtained.