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ERG Gene Offers Promising Potential in Prostate Cancer Diagnosis
March 4, 2005
Researchers led by
Dr. Shiv Srivastava
from the Center for Prostate Disease Research (CPDR), Uniformed Services
University of the Health Sciences (USU) in Maryland, report a groundbreaking
discovery of the ETS Related Gene (ERG) as one of the most common proto-oncogene
overexpressions in prostate cancer cells. This discovery provides a very
promising addition to a select group of genes, whose expression is frequently
altered in prostate cancer cells and have potential to improve diagnosis,
prognosis or therapy of prostate cancer in the future.
The report by
Dr. Gyorgy Petrovics
et al on the discovery of the first major oncogenic alteration in early
stage prostate cancer is published in the March 7 online issue of the
leading cancer research journal Oncogene. Using laser capture microdissected
prostate epithelial cells from malignant and benign prostate tissues and
GeneChips, they identified the ERG gene as the first oncogene that is
commonly overexpressed at the early phase of prostate cancer.
Oncogenes have long been known to be major factors in the development
of cancer cells and mutation or altered expression of these genes, and
have been identified in diverse human cancers. However, for prostate cancer,
which is the most common non-skin cancer and the second leading cause
of cancer-related deaths in men in the US, the identification of a higher
frequency of oncogenic alterations have eluded scientists thus far.
This discovery was the result of a highly coordinated effort by urologists,
pathologists and cancer biologists from the Walter Reed Army Medical Center
(WRAMC), the USU, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP), the
Walter Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) and the National Human Genome
Research Institute (NIHGRI). The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement
of Military Medicine provides scientific and management services for this
tri-service research program.
The CPDR researchers went on to assess the cancer association of ERG change
in combination with other prostate cancer marker genes. They found that
by combining ERG with two other genes, DD3 and AMACR, which are described
by other laboratories as commonly overexpressed in prostate cancer, the
three-gene panel exhibited cancer association in 98% of the prostate cancer
patients tested, underscoring a promising potential in prostate cancer
diagnosis. Intriguing correlations of ERG overexpression features have
also been noted for PSA recurrence-free survival of prostate cancer patients
after radical prostatectomy.
Oncogene inhibition or inactivation is one of the main strategies for
cancer gene therapy. Due to the oncogenic nature of ERG, CPDR researchers
are proposing the exploration of the ERG gene as a potential therapeutic
target in prostate cancer treatment.
The CPDR mission is fulfilled primarily through its three principal programs – the Clinical Research Center, the Basic Science Research Program and the National Multicenter Prostate Cancer Database– and through a robust education and training program that operates out of its Headquarters location, the Clinical Research Center, and the original laboratories at USUHS. CPDR is also committed to patient outreach, primarily through its affiliation with the WRAMC US TOO! organization and through a heavy schedule of health fairs in which it participates.
