Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.4.17.21 (prostate-specific membrane antigen)
 1,761 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

There has been a resurgence of interest in developing noncytotoxic immune therapies for patients with either hormone-naive biochemically relapsed post-primary therapy or castrate metastatic prostate cancer. The rationale for developing an immunotherapeutic approach has been based on the overexpression and underglycosylation of a wide variety of altered "self" molecules including prostate-specific antigen (PSA), acid phosphatase (ACP), prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA), and prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA), which can serve as targets for immune recognition and attack. In addition, such a strategy could theoretically make use of the patient's immune system to fight the tumor particularly if their disease is of reasonably low volume. A variety of immunotherapeutic approaches have been explored through phase I, II, and now phase III trials demonstrating that immunologic tolerance could be broken, as evidenced by the development of hightiter antibodies and T-cell responses specific for the tumor. What appears to be revolutionizing the immunotherapy field is the combination of vaccines with cytokines or immune modulators, which not only potentiate immune reactivity in vivo but foster dramatic antitumor responses. This review explores the challenges now faced in establishing a role for immune therapies for prostate cancer treatment.
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PMID:Emerging role of immunotherapy in the management of prostate cancer. 1744 37

Locally advanced prostate carcinoma (PCa) can involve adjacent colorectal tissue. In such cases, accurate assignment of primary source may prove difficult. Given the difference in treatment and prognosis between PCa and colorectal carcinoma (CRCa), an accurate diagnosis is crucial. Surgical pathology files were searched for all cases with a diagnosis of PCa on colorectal biopsy between 1987 and 2006. Histologic and clinical data were available in 23 of the 30 found cases. The diagnosis of PCa was made for the first time at the time of the colorectal presentation in 4 men. Three of the 4 underwent colectomy. Among the remaining 19 men with a previously documented diagnosis of PCa, the overall clinical and endoscopic impression still favored a second primary CRCa in 12 patients. The latter was due in part to the chronologically distant prior PCa diagnosis (mean, 6.9 years; range, 2-18 years). None of the colorectal biopsies demonstrated carcinoma in situ or dysplastic colonic mucosa. PCa architecture in the colonic biopsies was that of Gleason score of 9 to 10 in 20 cases and Gleason score of 8 in the remaining 3. Cribriform or microacinar architecture typical of PCa was seen in 6 cases. Immunostains were positive for prostate-specific antigen, P501S (prostein), prostate-specific membrane antigen, and prostate-specific acid phosphatase, in 16 of 20, 9 of 11, 10 of 11, and 10 of 20 cases, respectively. Three cases lacked immunohistochemical evidence of prostatic differentiation. Caudal-type homebox transcription factor 2 (CDX2) and beta-catenin were negative in all tested cases (0/11 for both). Although relatively rare, initial presentation of PCa as a rectal lesion may lead to an erroneous clinical and or histologic impression of CRCa. Because history of prostate cancer is often remote, clinical findings may be misleading. Pathologists should consider the possibility of prostatic origin in poorly differentiated carcinoma encountered on colorectal biopsy when features such as lack of an in situ component, extrinsic pattern of involvement, microacinar or solid architecture, and/or prominent nucleoli, are noted, especially in the absence of nuclear pleomorphism and mitotic activity. Immunohistochemical studies could help establish the diagnosis.
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PMID:Prostatic adenocarcinoma in colorectal biopsy: clinical and pathologic features. 1823 78

Prostate cancer is mostly diagnosed at an early stage; however, some tumors are diagnosed in a metastatic stage as cancer of unknown primary origin. In order to allow specific treatment in the case of prostate cancer presenting as cancer of unknown primary origin, it is important to determine the tumor origin. Prostate-specific antigen is used as a diagnostic marker for prostate cancer but the expression declines with progression to castration-resistant prostate cancer. Aim of this study was to identify the most informative marker constellation, which is able to detect metastatic prostate cancer at high sensitivity. The widely used prostate cancer markers such as prostate-specific antigen, prostate-specific acid phosphatase, androgen receptor, prostate-specific membrane antigen, prostein, and ETS-related gene were investigated for their sensitivity to detect prostatic origin of metastases. Expression of prostate-specific antigen, prostate-specific acid phosphatase, androgen receptor, prostate-specific membrane antigen, prostein, and ETS-related gene was determined on archived tissue specimens consisting of benign prostatic tissue (n=9), primary prostate cancer (n=79), lymph node metastases (n=58), and distant metastases (n=39) using immunohistochemistry. The staining intensity was categorized as negative (0), weak (1), moderate (2), and strong (3). All markers except ETS-related gene were able to detect at least 70% of lymph node metastases and distant metastases, with prostate-specific antigen, androgen receptor, and prostate-specific membrane antigen having the highest sensitivity (97%, 91%, and 94%, respectively). A further increase of the sensitivity up to 98% and 100% could be achieved by the combination of prostate-specific antigen, prostate-specific membrane antigen, or androgen receptor for lymph node metastases and for distant metastases, respectively. The same sensitivity could be reached by combining prostate-specific membrane antigen and prostein. Our data show that a combined staining of at least two prostate markers should be utilized to identify metastases as originating from prostate cancer.
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PMID:Comparison of different prostatic markers in lymph node and distant metastases of prostate cancer. 2492 52