
Establishing the way in which a genetic alteration called a TMPRSS2-ERG gene fusion forms in a prostate cancer, rather than the presence of the gene fusion itself, could help identify patients with prostate cancer with a low risk of spreading, which might determine the best course of treatment for the patient.
The study was published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
A Gleason score provides information on how aggressive a prostate cancer is.
It is calculated when a prostate needle biopsy specimen is examined under a microscope.
Depending on how normal or abnormal the cancer looks, it is assigned a number from 1 to 5, with 5 being the most abnormal and most aggressive.
Different areas of a tumour may have different patterns, and the two highest patterns are added together to give the Gleason score.
Most prostate cancers are Gleason score 6 (composed entirely of pattern 3) and men with Gleason score 6 are considered at low risk of having their tumours progress.
John C. Cheville, MD, professor of pathology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, explained that active surveillance is a common approach to caring for patients with prostate cancer with a Gleason score of 6.
Source: eCancer News







