<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/b><\/p>\n
WEDNESDAY, July 3, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Urine-derived extracellular vesicle RNA can provide diagnostic information for aggressive prostate cancer prior to biopsy as well as prognostic information for men under active surveillance for prostate cancer, according to a study published online June 25 in BJU International<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Shea P. Connell, Ph.D., from Norwich Medical School at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom, and colleagues developed a risk classifier using urine-derived extracellular vesicle RNA expression profiles for prostate cancer. Four prostate urine risk (PUR) signatures were generated to predict the probability of normal tissue, D’Amico low-risk, intermediate-risk, and high-risk (PUR-1, PUR-2, PUR-3, and PUR-4, respectively) prostate cancer. The model was applied to 177 men for diagnostic evaluation and, in an active surveillance (AS) cohort, to 87 men for prognostic evaluation.<\/p>\n
The researchers observed a significant correlation for each PUR signature with its corresponding clinical category. The presence of clinically significant intermediate-risk or high-risk disease was predicted by PUR-4 status with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.77. PUR application provided a net benefit over current clinical practice. In the AS cohort, definition by PUR status and proportion of PUR-4 were significantly associated with time to progression (interquartile range hazard ratio, 2.86). When utilized continuously, PUR-4 dichotomized patient groups with differential progression rates of 10 and 60 percent at five years after urine collection (hazard ratio, 8.23).<\/p>\n
“Our urine test could be used to not only diagnose prostate cancer without the need for an invasive needle biopsy but to identify a patient’s level of risk,” one coauthor said in a statement.<\/p>\n