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New urine DNA test and PSA: What you need to know

A modified version of the test is available now at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center; the full test is expected to be available sometime in 2012.

A new urine DNA test used with PSA can eliminate unnecessary prostate biopsies and reduce fear of overtreatment. A modified version of the test is available now at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center; the full test is expected to be available sometime in 2012.

U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers developed the prostate cancer-specific test using two genetic fingerprints -- biomarkers -- that are common in most prostate cancers and are easily detectible in a simple urine test. The DNA markers are the TMPRSS2:ERG gene fusion and PCA3 DNA.

According to Dr. Scott Tomlins, M.D., Ph.D., University of Michigan Health System pathology resident, who developed the test under the direction of Dr. Arul Chinnaiyan, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Michigan Center for Translational Pathology and S.P. Hicks Professor of Pathology at the U-M Medical School:

Other potential benefits:

• There is also a link between test results and the corresponding size of the tumor in patients who do have cancer.
  
  
• The availability of an easy-to-use urine test that is specific in finding the presence of cancer has the potential to eliminate thousands of unnecessary prostate biopsies in the U.S. each year.
  
  
• Needle biopsies can miss entire areas of the prostate in which cancer is present, but the additional information provided by this new biomarker test may allow doctors to home in on a patient's cancer and evaluate its potential aggressiveness.

Getting tested for TRMPSS2:ERG and PCA3

It will take some time before the combined urine-based assay is widely introduced into practice. The University of Michigan has been offering the PCA3 test alone since earlier this year. U-M will be offering PCA3 test in combination with TMPRSS2:ERG sometime in 2012 under a license agreement with GenProbe.

Once U-M begins offering the combined TMPRSS2:ERG/PCA3 test, physicians will be able send urine samples to U-M for analysis until the combined test is more widely available.

Patients interested in PCA3 testing, are advised to discuss this information directly with the physician to determine if such testing would be appropriate for the individual case.

For more information on PCA3 testing, men with questions about prostate cancer screening should speak to their doctors or call the U-M Cancer AnswerLine™ at 800-865-1125. To learn more about PCA3 testing, visit the Prostate Cancer Gene 3 (PCA3) website, an online resource created to help healthcare professionals and persons concerned about prostate cancer to stay informed about advances in using genetic (PCA3) testing for improving biopsy decisions in the diagnosis of prostate cancer.

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