Tumour markers in prostate cancer. A new horizon?

Česká verzia

Authors: V. Vik ¹; P. Šácha ^2,3; R. Zachoval ¹
Authors place of work: Urologické oddělení, Fakultní Thomayerova nemocnice, Praha Primář: doc. MUDr. Roman Zachoval, Ph. D. ¹; Ústav organické chemie a biochemie AV ČR, Praha Ředitel: RNDr. Zdeněk Havlas, DrSc. ²; Katedra biochemie Přírodovědecké fakulty UK, Hlavova 030, Praha Vedoucí: Doc. RNDr. Marie Stiborová, DrSc. ³
Published in the journal: Prakt. Lék. 2008; 88(12): 706-709
Category: Various Specialization

Summary

PSA has been the most commonly used prostate cancer marker since the end of the 1980s. Its introduction into clinical practice has changed prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment dramatically. The major disadvantage with PSA is its organ specificity and not cancer specificity. The major research task in recent years has been an attempt to define a biomarker that is produced specifically by the cancer cell only. The first clinical experience with EPCA-2 was published last year. It is clear that its specificity and sensitivity are better than for PSA. Nevertheless, the research has been ongoing and new molecules which are very interesting from a medical point of view have been discovered. One of which is PSMA (GCP II) and major progress towards understanding the function of this enzyme has been made in the past ten years. Currently, it can be stated that GCP II (PSMA) is a highly specific tumour marker for prostate cancer, which correlates with differentiation of the tumour and has prognostic potential. Furthermore, there is evidence supporting correlations between PSMA expression and angiogenesis in most solid tumours and neurological defects after ischemic attacks in the central nervous system.

Key words:
PSA (prostate specific antigen), EPCA-2 (early prostate cancer antigen), PSMA (prostate-specific membrane antigen), GCPII (glutamate carboxypeptidase II), prostate cancer.

Zdroje

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