ERG rearrangements (most commonly transmembrane protease, serine 2 [TMPRSS2]:ERG [T2:ERG] gene fusions) have been identified in approximately 50% of prostate cancers.
Quantification of T2:ERG in postdigital rectal examination urine, in combination with PCA3, improves the performance of serum prostate-specific antigen for prostate cancer prediction on biopsy. Here we compared urine T2:ERG and PCA3 scores with ERG+ (determined with immunohistochemical analysis) and total prostate cancer burden in 41 mapped prostatectomies. Prostatectomies had a median of 3 tumor foci (range, 1-15) and 2.6 cm of summed linear tumor dimension (range, 0.6-7.1 cm). Urine T2:ERG score correlated most with summed linear ERG+ tumor dimension and number of ERG+ foci (rs = 0.68 and 0.67, respectively, both P < .001). Urine PCA3 score showed weaker correlation with both number of tumor foci (rs = 0.34, P = .03) and summed linear tumor dimension (rs = 0.26, P = .10). In summary, we demonstrate a strong correlation between urine T2:ERG score and total ERG+ prostate cancer burden at prostatectomy, consistent with high tumor specificity.
Written by:
Young A, Palanisamy N, Siddiqui J, Wood DP, Wei JT, Chinnaiyan AM, Kunju LP, Tomlins SA. Are you the author?
Dept of Pathology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
Reference: Am J Clin Pathol. 2012 Nov;138(5):685-96.
doi: 10.1309/AJCPU7PPWUPYG8OH
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 23086769
UroToday.com Investigative Urology Section
