Abstract
GenomeDx Biosciences reported that its commercially available Decipher® testing platform identified, with statistical significance, a set of prostate cancer biomarkers predictive of aggressive disease in African American men after radical prostate surgery. This represents the first and only study describing a set of genomic markers that have the ability to predict tumor aggressiveness in a race-dependent manner, said Elai Davicioni, Ph.D., president and CSO at GenomeDx and an author on a study (“Novel Biomarker Signature That May Predict Aggressive Disease in African American Men With Prostate Cancer”), that was published online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Additionally, the study demonstrated that the Medicare-covered Decipher test is an independent predictor of metastasis in African American men.
“African American men have historically experienced a higher incidence of mortality from prostate cancer than men of other races and ethnicities, and clinicians have long sought a better understanding of what drives this more aggressive disease,” said Kosj Yamoah, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor in radiation oncology, genitourinary program, Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute. “The ability to identify a subset of African American men who harbor aggressive disease will enable clinicians to more accurately identify appropriate treatments to enhance disease control and ultimately help to improve outcomes in this patient population.”
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The study, which included 154 African American and 243 European American patient samples pulled from the Decipher Genomics Resource Information Database (GRID), evaluated 20 validated biomarkers reported to be associated with prostate cancer initiation and progression. Of 20 biomarkers examined, six showed statistically significant differential expression in African American men compared with European American men. The results suggest that prostate cancer may arise from distinct molecular pathways in European men compared to African American men.
The uniqueness in the biology and evolution of prostate cancer in African American men may have clinical implications for applications in both diagnostics and therapeutics.
“These biomarkers provide a source of relevant knowledge in developing a signature that may be unique to African American men with aggressive prostate cancer,” noted Dr. Davicioni. “[They] also provide new insights about the relationship between tumor biology and the racial disparity in prostate cancer outcomes.
“This study evaluated a number of biomarkers that were shown to predict risk of high-stage disease in a race-dependent manner, but also validated that Decipher can accurately and independently predict metastasis within five years after prostatectomy in African American men (AUC = 0.78).”