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If you鈥檝e had a prostate biopsy, you may have seen the words 鈥減rostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN)鈥� on the pathology report. What is it? Based on years of study, much of it led by Brady scientists, 鈥渨e recognize PIN as a warning sign of cancer in the making 鈥� a precursor lesion,鈥� says Vasan Yegnasubramanian, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Oncology and Co-Associate Director of Precision Oncology at the Kimmel Cancer Center.
What exactly happens to change PIN from a precursor to cancer? To find out, Yegnasubramanian and investigators William Nelson, M.D., Ph.D., and Angelo De Marzo, M.D., Ph.D., looked at molecular alterations to a gene called GSTP1 (pronounced 鈥淕ST-pie鈥�). GSTP1 is a chemical fire extinguisher; it dampens the potential fire of inflammation and keeps it from damaging DNA. But in most men with prostate cancer, GSTP1 is disabled early on by a series of chemical changes, a process called methylation.
鈥淲e dove deep into the DNA,鈥� says Yegnasubramanian, 鈥渁nd an intriguing pattern emerged鈥� amid the intermingled cancerous, PIN, and healthy cells. 鈥淭he amount of DNA methylation in GSTP1 gradually increased from healthy to cancerous cells,鈥� shutting off the fire extinguisher. 鈥淭his stepwise increase was clearly evident as we moved from normal or inflamed tissue to pre-cancerous PIN tissue, with nearly complete methylation in the full-blown cancerous tissue.鈥�
A new biomarker test for prostate cancer may result from this work. 鈥淭hese methylation changes could serve as a telltale sign of the earliest stages of prostate cancer.鈥�
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