Primetime Living 2.22.26 - Flipbook - Page 23
A Special Advertising Section of Baltimore Sun Media Group | Sunday, February 22, 2026 23
Prostate Cancer
Continued from page 8
prostate.
“Advances in understanding RNA,
similar to DNA, but a single strand
instead of a double strand, helped to
make this test possible because we
identified the prostate cancer gene:
PCA3. mRNA – messenger RNA – genes
contain specific information about the
cancer. Different types of RNA exist in
cells: messenger RNA (mRNA), ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and transfer RNA
(tRNA). In addition, some RNAs are
involved in regulating gene expression
and certain viruses use RNA as their
genomic material. It is what helped
define the prostate cancer gene.
“The urethra contains urine that starts
in the bladder, then passes through the
prostate before being ejected. That
means the early morning urine contains
information from the prostate in the
form of messenger RNA (mRNA). Our
journey began with 341 urine specimens (107 from healthy individuals,
136 from patients with prostate cancer
before surgery and 98 after surgery.
During the development of their urine
test, they studied an additional 1,055
specimens (162 from healthy individuals, 484 from patients with prostate
cancer before surgery and 409 after
surgery) to validate the test.
“This new biomarker panel offers
a promising, sensitive, and specific,
noninvasive diagnostic test for prostate
cancer. It has the potential to accurately
detect prostate cancer, reduce unnecessary biopsies, and improve diagnostic accuracy in PSA-negative patients. It
was found to be able to detect prostate
cancer even when the PSA test was in
the normal range. Better yet, it could
distinguish the differences between
prostate cancer, BPH, and prostatitis (inflamed prostate). Most urologists
feel that an accurate urinary biomarker
would be a valuable addition to our current diagnostic toolkit.”
From an initial 815 prostate-specific genes identified in urine from men
with prostate cancers, the investigators
prioritized the top 50 genes, then the
top nine, and from there selected the
three top performers, TTC3, H4C5 and
EPCAM, for further analysis.
“Investigators are considering how
the biomarker panel could be used
alone or combined with a PSA test to
make a “super PSA,” Perera says. Next
steps for research are to have an independent trial of the test at another institution and to further develop the test
for laboratory use in clinical settings,
he says. The investigators have filed a
patent, and Johns Hopkins Technology
Ventures is helping the team to spin off
a company. More than anything, this is
a positive indication of the benefits of
this new test.
Accuracy
This new urine-based test, using
three biomarkers, accurately identified
prostate cancer 91 percent of the time
and accurately ruled out people without
prostate cancer 84 percent of the time
in the validation study. It also determined that the panel could do better
than PCA3 (Prostate cancer antigen
3) to distinguish patients with prostate
cancer from those with BPH, a noncancerous increase in size of the prostate
gland. These results were published on
September 2, 2025 in eBioMedicine.
This test may not be available immediately; however, it already represents
a giant leap in diagnosing prostate
cancer. In tandem with improvements in
treatment, such as radioisotopes, more
men will survive a bout with prostate
cancer. That’s a future we can all look
forward to.
