Hepsin may represent new prognostic marker for prostate cancer

Expression of hepsin, a serine protease, correlates with the aggressiveness of prostate cancer, according to a report published in the January issue of The Journal of Urology. Hepsin may therefore represent a potentially useful prognostic indicator.

A link between hepsin expression and prostate cancer prognosis was first suggested in cDNA microarray studies. Until now, however, a quantitative analysis of the association had not been performed.In the new study, Dr. Eleftherios P. Diamandis, from Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, and colleagues used a quantitative PCR technique to assess the prognostic value of hepsin expression in 90 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer. Fifty-one patients had grade 2 tumors and 39 had grade 3 tumors.For each patient, expression of hepsin in cancerous parts of the gland was compared with expression in noncancerous parts, the authors explain. In 81 of the 90 samples, hepsin expression was higher in cancerous parts of the gland (p < 0.001), they report. In fact, in more than half of these samples, the expression was 10-times higher than that seen in noncancerous parts.The researchers also found that the cancerous-to-noncancerous hepsin expression ratio was significantly higher in patients with grade 3 tumors than in those with grade 2 tumors (p = 0.031). Using a hepsin expression cutoff value equal to the 75th percentile, the investigators were able to reliably distinguish patients at high or low risk for relapse."Up-regulation of the hepsin gene in advanced and more aggressive tumors suggests a possible role for hepsin protein in prostate cancer progression," Dr. Diamandis and colleagues note. "Hepsin may be a future serum marker for prostate cancer diagnosis and a tissue marker for distinguishing between nonaggressive and more aggressive tumors," they add.(Source: J Urol 2004;171:187-191: Reuters Health: January 9, 2004: Oncolink)