Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College, collaborating with researchers at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, have uncovered a distinct molecular subtype of prostate cancer, which is prevalent among 15% of men with the disease.
In the study, published online May 20 in the journal Nature Genetics, investigators describe how they discovered novel mutations in the SPOP (“S-pop”) gene in numerous patient tumors, saying this alteration is thus far unique to prostate cancer and represents a distinct molecular class that might assist in cancer diagnosis and treatment. Researchers suspect the mutations alter the way cells tag proteins for degradation, leading to an accumulation of dangerous molecules that drive the growth of cancer, perhaps from the beginning.
This type of mutation is unique to prostate cancer. By targeting the mutations in the SPOP gene, a new class of cancer diagnosis and treatment can be developed.
This finding adds to a string of discovery of other genes linked to prostate cancer over the years by this team of investigators, the totality of which is painting a comprehensive picture of how genetic alterations contribute to prostate cancer — the most common cancer in men aside from skin cancer, accounting for the second leading cause of cancer deaths.
Click here to read the published research paper.
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