Could Prostate Cancer Be Predicted Early? Clues in Blood Proteins

12 Proteins Linked to Long-Term Risk of Developing Prostate Cancer Identified
Researchers: "May Help Improve Risk Assessment"
Further Validation Needed Before Individual Risk Prediction or Clinical Use

A clue has emerged that could help identify the likelihood of developing prostate cancer through a blood test. The findings are expected to help researchers understand early biological changes in prostate cancer and develop ways to assess the risk of developing the disease in the future.

According to the UK’s Independent and Daily Mail, among other outlets, on October 23 local time, researchers from the University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Population Health recently published the findings in the international journal European Urology. The findings were also presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG).

The researchers analyzed blood samples from 982 men in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) who were subsequently diagnosed with prostate cancer, along with samples from 1,573 randomly selected comparison subjects. They measured more than 6,000 types of proteins in the blood, and the participants were followed for about 16 years.

The analysis identified 12 proteins associated with cases in which prostate cancer was diagnosed more than 15 years after blood samples were collected. Among them, GZMK is a protein produced by immune cells involved in recognizing and eliminating abnormal cells. The researchers said, "These findings may offer clues to understanding the role the immune system plays in the early development of prostate cancer."

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The researchers also identified seven proteins associated with aggressive prostate cancer. Among them, ANKRD1 showed a consistent association with severe forms of prostate cancer, including cases that spread to other organs or resulted in death. The analysis also included proteins linked to the process by which cancer cells interact with surrounding tissue and the formation of new blood vessels.

Proteins produced by ERBB3, KRAS and NRAS, genes known to be associated with prostate cancer, were also found to be associated with later diagnoses of aggressive prostate cancer. In particular, these proteins were linked to aggressive cancers diagnosed about 10 years after the blood samples were collected. However, the researchers stressed that this does not mean cancer was already present when the blood was drawn; rather, the findings may point to biological changes associated with future disease development.

The researchers said the findings do not immediately translate into a practical blood test, as many of the associations between proteins and cancer development were modest and not all results were replicated in other research datasets.

Professor Mieke van Hemelrijck, a cancer epidemiologist at King’s College London, noted, "Finding an association between proteins in the blood and future cancer development is a separate matter from accurately predicting whether an individual will develop the disease."

The researchers plan to validate the findings using additional population and genetic data and to identify the mechanisms behind the development of aggressive prostate cancer that can be life-threatening.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.