Protein Offers Insights for Better Prostate Cancer Diagnosis, Treatment

A protein in the body known for helping repair damaged DNA may offer researchers a new way to better detect and treat prostate cancer. Researchers from the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Centre have uncovered results that show DNA-PK may also play a big role in the spread of this particular disease, which is among the leading cancer killers of American men.

Researchers say that high levels of DNA-PK may indicate that early stage tumors are more likely to spread. This type of insight can help doctors better diagnose early cancer while also helping them lay out more definitive treatment plans with better understanding of a particular patient’s likelihood of seeing their cancer spread over time.

Prostate cancer is very often considered a slow-growing form of the disease. In many cases, men are treated on a watch-and-wait basis. Some men will find they never need treatment for the disease, but others discover that spread of the disease or the threat of it necessitates more aggressive actions. The protein DNA-PK could help doctors more readily determine which cases call for more aggressive action.

While DNA-PK may prove to be a good predictor, researchers say disrupting this protein may also slow down the growth of cancer. This, in turn, may lead to better treatments down the road for stopping the spread of the disease.

While DNA-PK shows a great deal of promise, researchers say more study is required. How soon or how exactly the findings will be applied in practice remains to be seen.

Men who are concerned about prostate cancer are urged to speak with their healthcare providers. This disease, if caught early, is often highly treatable and has a rather high survival rate as a result. The key, however, is finding the cancer early and taking appropriate measures to treat it, if necessary.

About Author:-

Choice Cancer Care is an independent, physician-owned cancer center network. Dr. Gregory Echt, a radiation oncologist with over two decades of experience, is the founder of Choice Cancer Care. Choice Cancer Care is among the busiest practices in the country for brachytherapy, or prostate seed implant therapy – a cancer treatment plan for prostate cancer that provides remarkable success rates and fewer life-limiting side effects.

North Texas based Choice Cancer Care is a physician-owned cancer treatment center. Dr. Gregory Echt, a radiation oncologist specializes in the most highly sophisticated methods of chemotherapy and radiation therapy available today.