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March 2025 BLOOD TEST MAY REDUCE UNNECESSARY PROSTATE CANCER BIOPSIESFeaturing: Adam B. Murphy, MD, MBA, ‘14 MSCI, ‘10 GME
A new blood test may help reduce unnecessary prostate biopsies and can detect prostate cancer with similar sensitivity to standard screening in patients across various patient populations, according to a recent multi-center trial published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Adam B. Murphy, MD, MBA, ‘14 MSCI, ‘10 GME, the Distinguished Professor of Health Equity Research in Urology, was a lead author of the study and the principal investigator of the U.S. clinical site. Prostate cancer is currently the second-leading cause of death in men in the U.S. and one in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetimes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Men who are older, who have a family history of prostate cancer and are African American also have an up to 70 percent higher risk of developing prostate cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. Prostate cancer risk is typically determined by a digital rectal exam and biomarker screening such as the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, which measures levels of the PSA protein in the patient’s blood, followed by a prostate biopsy. In the current study, Murphy and colleagues aimed to determine if a new blood test that determines prostate cancer risk, the Stockholm3 test, could improve prostate cancer detection in patients from specific groups in the U.S. and also reduce unnecessary prostate biopsies in patients with benign or low-grade prostate cancer. More than 2,100 patients from 17 clinical sites across the U.S. who underwent prostate biopsies were enrolled. Before the biopsy, patient samples were collected to measure Stockholm3 risk score, which consists of measuring different protein biomarkers, genetic biomarkers and other clinical information to determine each patient’s respective risk score. The investigators found that the Stockholm3 test reduced benign and low-grade prostate cancer biopsies by 45 percent overall, and between 42 percent and 52 percent across certain populations. “This study is a model for what should be done when tests are being applied across the general U.S. population, especially in this era of precision medicine and precision oncology,” said Murphy, who is also an associate professor of Preventive Medicine in the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention and assistant director of Community Outreach and Engagement for the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University. This work was supported by the Vetenskapsrådet (Swedish Research Council, 2020-01609; Eklund, Grönberg), Cancerfonden (Swedish Cancer Society, CAN 180649; Eklund, Grönberg), and A3P Biomedical. This article is modified from one originally published in the Feinberg School of Medicine News Center on December 16, 2024. listen on your preferred platform |
Adam B. Murphy, MD, MBA, ‘14 MSCI, ‘10 GME, the Distinguished Professor of Health Equity Research in Urology, was a lead-author of the study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
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