PITX2 GENE METHYLATION

Epigenomics, a cancer molecular diagnostics company based in Frankfurt, Germany, has reported that PITX2 gene methylation is a strong, independent prognostic marker that can help doctors determine a patient's risk for relapse of prostate cancer after treatment with radical prostatectomy.

Currently, doctors treating prostate cancer patients after radical prostatectomy know that the disease recurs in approximately one in 7 patients. The problem for physicians is that there are few good ways to accurately determine which of the patients is likely to have a recurrence.

The clinical study analyzed tissue samples from 476 prostate cancer patients who had undergone radical prostatectomy for treatment of prostate cancer. The goal or primary endpoint of the study was to determine if the methylation of the PITX2 gene was an independent biomarker for prostate cancer recurrence.

The results showed that patients with an elevated PITX2 gene methylation level had a three times as high rate of recurrence as opposed to patients with low PITX2 gene methylation levels.

PITX2 gene methylation remained a statistically significant independent prognostic factor even when it was combined with several established parameters such as Gleason score, tumor staging,  PSA levels prior to surgery, age, and surgical margin status.

The study was conducted by Epigenomics and its clinical partners which included Baylor College of Medicine, the Erasmus Medical Centeri in The Netherlands, Duke University Medical Center, the VA Medical Center at Durham, North Carolina, and University Hospital in Erlangen, Germany.

The company also announced that  a publication of the clinical study data is planned.