Research on prostate cancer this week

Body weight linked to prostate cancer risk

A new study led by researchers from Henry Ford Hospital found that heavier men are more likely to have bigger, more aggressive prostate cancer.

The six-year study presented at the American Urological Association's annual meeting in San Fransisco showed the more a man weighed, the more aggressive the cancer.

Dr. Nilesh Patil was cited as saying obese men should receive an annual digital rectal exam because the blood test is not accurate, particularly for heavier men.

The study involved 3,327 men who underwent prostate cancer surgery at the hospital in Detroit between Oct 2001 and Oct 2007.

Genetic markers may be used to detect prostate cancer at early stages

A new study led by researchers from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center suggests that a set of genetic markers may be enlisted to diagnose prostate cancer at an early stage in young men.

The researchers examined 14 gene mutations in 754 men aged 65 and younger who were diagnosed with prostate cancer and who had enrolled in the Prostate Cancer Genetics Project.

Additionally, they examined 1163 older men with prostate cancer and 2713 men without the disease.

The study found that 30 percent of the younger men had prostate cancer and 41 percent of them had a first-degree relation to someone with prostate cancer.

Kathleen Cooney, M.D. at the U-M Medical School, said the genetic markers may be used along with the PSA testing to detect prostate cancer.

PSA testing alone is not a reliable test, according to the inventor of the diagnostic method.

The study was presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting on June 4-8, 2010, Chicago.

Dogs new diagnostics for prostate cancer screening

Dogs, albeit after some training, may be used as a new diagnostic tool to screen prostate cancer, according to a new study led by researchers at the Tenon Hospital in Paris.

Dogs (Belgian Malinois) trained by Dr. Jean-Nicolas Cornu and his colleagues were able to pick out 63 out of 66 urine samples from cancer patients.

The researchers believe, according to examiner.com, that using dogs may be more effective in detecting prostate cancer than the prostate specific antigen test.

(David Liu and editing by Rachel Stockton)