Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.4.21.73 (urokinase-type plasminogen activator)
 10,685 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The introduction of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) has revolutionized the detection and management of patients with prostate cancer. Despite this there has always been a concern among clinicians about the usefulness of total PSA levels as a marker for prostate cancer. We discuss the use of calculated variables and molecular forms of PSA. The precursor forms of PSA have been associated with the presence and biological behaviour of prostate cancer. With recent advances in biotechnology, e.g. high-throughput molecular analyses, many potential blood biomarkers have been identified and are currently under investigation. Given the plethora of candidate biomarkers we discuss a selected group of novel blood-based biomarkers, e.g. human glandular kallikrein, early prostate cancer antigen, insulin-like growth factors, urokinase plasminogen activators, transforming growth factor-beta, interleukin-6, chromogranin A, and prostate secretory protein. While these and other markers have shown promise in early-phase studies, no single biomarker is likely to have the appropriate degree of certainty to dictate treatment decisions. Consequently, the future of cancer prognosis might rely on small panels of markers that can accurately predict cancer presence, stage and metastasis, and serve as prognosticators, targets, and/or surrogate endpoints of disease progression and response to therapy.
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PMID:New blood-based biomarkers for the diagnosis, staging and prognosis of prostate cancer. 1794 30

The introduction of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) revolutionized prostate cancer (PCa) screening and ushered the PSA era. However, its use as a screening tool remains controversial and changes in the epidemiology of PCa have strongly limited its prognostic role. Therefore, we need novel approaches to improve our ability to detect PCa and foretell the course of the disease. To improve the specificity of total PSA, several approaches based on PSA derivatives have been investigated such as age-specific values, PSA density (PSAD), PSAD of the transition zone, PSA velocity and assessment of various isoforms of PSA. With recent advances in biotechnology such as high-throughput molecular analyses, many potential blood biomarkers have been identified and are currently under investigation. Given the plethora of candidate PCa biomarkers, we have chosen to discuss a select group of candidate blood-based biomarkers including human glandular kallikrein, early prostate cancer antigens, insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and its binding proteins (IGFBP-2 and IGFBP-3), urokinase plasminogen activation system, transforming growth factor-beta1, interleukin-6, chromogranin A, prostate secretory protein, prostate-specific membrane antigen, PCa-specific autoantibodies and alpha-methylacyl-CoA racemase. While these and other markers have shown promise in early phase studies, no single biomarker is likely to have the appropriate degree of certainty to dictate treatment decisions. Consequently, the future of cancer prognosis may rely on small panels of markers that can accurately predict PCa presence, stage, metastasis, and serve as prognosticators, targets and/or surrogate end points of disease progression and response to therapy.
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PMID:New circulating biomarkers for prostate cancer. 1799 18