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SCIENTIFIC BASIS FOR TREATMENT CHOICE IN PROSTATE CANCER: THE MOLECULAR DETECTION OF PROSTATE CANCER IN THE BLOOD.
Sue Birchill, Professor Peter Selby St. James’ University Hospital, |
Any new technique which refines the detection and staging of prostate cancer is an advance for both patients and clinicians. These researchers have looked at new molecular biological techniques to detect small numbers of circulating prostate cancer cells in blood.
They’ve used a technique call “Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction” (RT-PCR). This is complex science but effectively the technique multiplies the signal for Prostate Specific Antigen RNA (Ribonucliec acid) in the blood and allows for a very sensitive assay.
Interestingly although the technique easily distinguishes patients with metastatic prostate cancer from healthy volunteers it is not good at distinguishing localized cancer sufferers from healthy volunteers. As with so much research this work does little more than pave the way for future research.
Research summarised by Prostate Research Campaign UK, 23 May 2006.
Project G1997/01.