Guest guest Posted October 5, 2005 Report Share Posted October 5, 2005 Skin test could screen prostate cancer By Marsa / Health and Fitness News Service snip the University of California-San Diego, uses skin samples to test for prostate cancer. Investigators there discovered prostate cancer cells produce many types of substances that influence the growth of other tissues and organs, including the skin, the body's largest organ. Because the skin's surface is so large, scientists wondered if the skin would act like a magnifying glass and allow them a better view of tumor cells percolating through the body. They also wondered whether changes in the way genes behaved when they were affected by prostate cancer were apparent on the skin's surface, according to Dr. Wachsman, an oncologist who conducted the recent research. To find out whether this is true, Wachsman has begun a $1.8 million study that will eventually encompass 450 men. One-third of the volunteers will have had positive biopsies for prostate cancer, another third will have elevated PSA levels but no evidence of cancer, while the remainder will have negligible PSA levels. Skin samples will be collected from each volunteer using a technology known as Epidermal Genetic Information Retrieval. It consists of specially designed adhesive tapes, about the size of a quarter, that " can harvest surface skin cells from which genetic matter can be extracted, " says Benson, a scientist at DermTech International, the San Diego, Calif. company that makes the tapes. The samples will then be analyzed to identify genes on the skin's surface. " We're looking for skin cells that have alterations in their gene expression due to the cancer, " says Wachsman, who plans to analyze at least 47,000 genes. " Eventually, we'll boil those numbers down to the top 25 genes that statistically are the most predictive of cancer, " he says. snip http://www.detnews.com/2005/fitness/0510/04/H11-336003.htm Kathy Meade Arlington Educational Consulting http://www.vapcacoalition.org/ phone fax " Respect means listening until everyone has been heard and understood, only then is there a possibility of " Balance and Harmony " the goal of Indian Spirituality. " " Dave Chief, Grandfather of Red Dog " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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