No abstract

To analyze differential gene expression of putative prostate tumor markers we compared the expression levels of more than 400 cancer-related genes using the cDNA array technique in a set of capsule-invasive prostate tumor and matched normal prostate tissue. The overexpression of Bax inhibitor-1 (BI-1) in prostate carcinoma and prostate cancer cell lines was confirmed by using Prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed solid tumor in men, and the second leading cause of cancer death in males from western countries. 1 One of the key issues in prostate cancer research is to develop molecular markers that can effectively detect and distinguish the progression and malignancy of prostate tumors as well as provide insights into prostate tumor development or behavior. Progress in identifying such markers has been markedly accelerated by recent advances in molecular biology technologies, such as cDNA array and microarray techniques, which enabled analyzing the expression of thousands of genes in a single experiment and hold great promise for a better understanding of the molecular genetics and biology of prostate cancers. 2,3 Also, the recent development of laser-capture microdissection (LCM), a technique that allows for the reliable and accurate procurement of cells from specific microscopic regions of tissue sections under direct visualization, now affords the opportunity to perform molecular genetic analysis of pure populations of prostate cancer cells in their native tissue environment. 4 Compelling evidence suggests that the tumorigenic growth of the prostate depends on the evasion of normal homeostatic control mechanisms, because of an increase in cell proliferation and a decrease in apoptotic death. 5,6 Thus, enhancing the apoptotic process emerges as a significant therapeutic target for the effective elimination of both androgen-dependent and androgen-independent prostate cancer cells. 7 Recently, reported adenovirus-mediated Bax overexpression induced apoptosis of LNCaP, PC-3, and DU-145 growing in vitro and in vivo. 8 However, the pro-apoptotic protein Bax seems to be expressed in all prostate cancers evaluated but the expression of several anti-apoptotic members of the bcl-2 gene family increases during progresSupported by a grant from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (BU-992/2-2 to P.B.), by the Forschungsfö rderungsprogramm from the Medical Faculty, University of Gö ttingen (to P.B.), and by the European Union (E)UROESTROGEN(E)S contract QLK6-CT-200 -00565 (to P.T.) M.G. and P.T. contributed equally to this work.

Although CA-125 serum levels differ significantly before and after surgery in early and advanced-stage ovarian cancer and preoperative CA-125 values correlate with surgical outcome in advanced-stage disease, we could not determine a preoperative cutoff value for prediction of the surgical result. A prognostic relevance was only observed for postoperative CA-125 in stage III/IV patients.