Researchers seek to apply cancer gene advances

The science has been emerging fast and furious. The next push is to use the newfound knowledge to improve screening, diagnosis, staging and treatment.

By Victoria Stagg Elliott, AMNews staff. Oct. 2, 2006.

With the genetic understanding of cancer increasing at a rapid pace, scientists are exploring ways to link the information across the spectrum of care -- from initial screening tests to more tailored treatment options.

This concept was the theme of several presentations at last month's American Assn. for Cancer Research's first-ever international conference, "Molecular Diagnostics in Cancer Therapeutic Development: Maximizing Opportunities for Individualized Treatment," in Chicago.

"There are a great number of molecular technologies that impact every phase of cancer," said Richard M. Caprioli, PhD, one of the speakers and a professor of biochemistry at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tenn. "What we need to do is bring these technologies together."

On the screening end, numerous studies offered insights into how blood tests eventually could be used to refine currently problematic modalities, such as the prostate-specific antigen test. Researchers are trying to determine if human aspartyl (asparaginyl) beta-hydroxylase -- HAAH -- in blood is a better marker for prostate cancer than the PSA. PSA testing is widely used but controversial because of the false-positive rate. Most medical societies that issue related guidelines recommend offering it but have not come out in favor of making it routine.

According to a small study presented at the conference, HAAH was detected in the blood of 16 patients with this disease but not in the 23 who did not have it. Research is ongoing to determine how HAAH testing compares with that for PSA.