Analysis of the Serum Marker EPCA-2 in Prostate Cancer

尽管使用PSA作为前列腺癌生物标记物已经成功超过25年，但很明显，我们 需要一种标记物，既对疾病有特异性，又能区分疾病和潜在的 从那些不会导致临床意义的东西中杀死。利用专注于核基质的蛋白质组学， 我们已经确定了与前列腺癌相关的改变。其中一个变化是，EPCA-2是 这个应用程序。检测血清EPCA-2水平的方法已被证明是特异的 疾病，并能够区分手术时前列腺内的疾病和疾病 它已经扩散到腺体之外。在这个项目中评估的假设是EPCA-2可以 作为前列腺癌的生物标志物，可以区分侵袭性和非侵袭性 前列腺癌。该项目的目标是将前列腺癌生物标记物(例如EPCA-2)转化为 多机构孢子平台中的前列腺癌患者护理。以下是具体目标 建议解决这一假设：1)确定EPCA-2区分 约翰霍普金斯医院患者群体中Gleason评分6、7和8-10的人群以及 孢子间研究；2)分析血清EPCA-2水平是否能识别哪些男性，谁在 术后有格里森7期前列腺癌及至少10年随访，有生化复发 (PSA)来自那些患有非复发性疾病的人。这些研究将由来自Johns的样本集组成 霍普金斯大学和其他可用的孢子样本集；以及3)开始确定 EPCA-2蛋白在疾病过程中的作用以及它被释放到血清中的机制。

Despite the success of using PSA as a prostate cancer biomarker for more than 25 years, it is clear that we need a marker that is both specific for the disease and that can differentiate the disease with the potential to kill from that which will not result in clinical significance. Utilizing proteomics focused on the nuclear matrix, we have identified alterations associated with prostate cancer. One such change, EPCA-2 is the focus of this application. The assay which detects serum levels of EPCA-2 has been shown to be specific for the disease and is able to discriminate between disease inside the prostate at the time of surgery and disease which has spread outside of the gland. The hypothesis being evaluated in this project is that EPCA-2 can serve as a prostate cancer biomarker that can differentiate between aggressive and non-aggressive prostate cancer. The goal of this project is translation of prostate cancer biomarkers (e.g. EPCA-2) into patient care for prostate cancer within a multi-institutional SPORE platform. The following specific aims are proposed to address this hypothesis: 1) to determine the ability of EPCA-2 to differentiate between populations of Gleason score 6, 7 and 8-10 in a population of Johns Hopkins Hospital patients as well as in an inter-SPORE study; 2) to analyze if serum EPCA-2 levels can identify which men, who at the time of surgery have Gleason 7 prostate cancer and a minimum of 10 year follow-up, have biochemical recurrence (PSA) from those with non-recurrent disease. These studies will consist of sample sets both from Johns Hopkins as well as other available SPORE sample sets; and 3) to begin to determine the functional role of the EPCA-2 protein in the disease process as well as the mechanism by which it is released into the serum.