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Alternative/Potential Tests

New blood test

The Prostate Research Group at St George's, University of London, have developed a blood test able to diagnose prostate cancer (as opposed to BPH or inflammatory disease) with 95% accuracy, thus reducing the need for biopsy confirmation. They state: "Following a diagnosis of cancer, subsequent testing will identify the stage of the cancer. The test is now ready for validation, standardisation and formatting, prior to introduction for routine diagnosis. Additional aspects include being able to decide the most effective treatment and also to monitor whether it has effect."

Current research is being carried out on specific markers which may be used to indicate specific targeted therapy. Others offer the potential of prostate cancer screening - identifying prostate cancer risk up to 5 years before disease onset.

These markers are still at the early stages of analysis.

Index-finger length indicates cancer risk

Men whose index fingers are longer than their ring fingers are much less likely to develop prostate cancer according to researchers from the University of Warwick and The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) who found that men whose right-hand index finger is longer than their ring finger were one third less likely to develop the disease in their lifetime than men with the opposite finger lengths.

When it comes to the risk of developing the disease before they are 60 the link was even greater with longer index fingered men having 87 per cent less chance. The relative length of index and ring fingers is set before birth, and is thought to relate to the levels of the sex hormone testosterone the baby is exposed to in the womb.

Less testosterone equates to a longer index finger. The researchers now believe that being exposed to less testosterone before birth helps protect against prostate cancer later in life.

"Our results show that relative finger length could be used as a simple test for prostate cancer risk, particularly in men aged under 60," said the joint author Professor Ros Eeles from the ICR and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust.

PCA3 urine testing

PCA3 is short for Prostate Cancer gene 3. Prostate cells have PCA3 genes that make the cell produce a small amount of a particular protein. Prostate cancer cells make much more of this protein than normal cells. When the level of PCA3 protein is high, it gets into the urine. Researchers have been checking whether they can use a urine test for PCA3 protein to diagnose prostate cancer. We don't yet know how useful this test will be, and you can't have it on the NHS. But so far, trial results have been promising, and it may be used more often in the future. 

Potential urine test

Up to four in 10 European men have a genetic variation that raises their risk of prostate cancer by as much as 50 per cent. Scientists have discovered that the level of an easily detected protein in urine, called MSMB, is always lower in men who have this inherited genetic variation. MSMB keeps the prostate healthy by killing imperfect cells that could turn cancerous, so men with lower levels of it are more likely to develop prostate cancer. Dr Kate Holmes, the research manager at The Prostate Cancer Charity, said: "Finding a technique to accurately diagnose prostate cancer is the holy grail of research into the disease, which is why these results are potentially exciting."

Potential biomarker blood test

Researchers at Oxford Gene Technology (OGT) have identified a set of biological markers that appears to distinguish prostate cancer from benign prostate disease and health tissue with 90 per cent accuracy. These protein 'biomarkers' betray the existence of antibodies which are automatically raised in response to the development of prostate cancer. They are now testing the method with 1,700 patients. John Anson, from OGT, said: "The appearance of autoantibodies may precede disease symptoms by many years. This means that autoantibody-based diagnostic tests can enable presymptomatic and early diagnosis of disease. Early diagnosis of cancer, especially aggressive forms, could significantly increase cure rates." 

Diffusion-weighted MRI potential test

A new technique, called diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging, may be able to indicate when men with slow-growing prostate cancer need treatment. The test measures water through tissue, a measurement that is significantly lower in men with high-risk prostate tumours.