A study published in the
British Journal of Cancer suggests that the expression of golgi phosphoprotein 2
(GOLPH2) may represent a novel, additional tissue biomarker for prostate
cancer.

Researchers from Switzerland used histochemical analysis to compare GOLPH2 protein expression with
that of the basal cell marker p63 and the prostate cancer marker
alpha-methylacyl-CoA racemase (AMACR) in radical prostatectomy specimens from
614 prostate cancer patients.

The investigators found that GOLPH2
expression was most commonly observed in prostatic gland epithelia, and was
significantly greater in invasive carcinoma samples than in prostatic
intraepithelial neoplasia samples and in normal
tissue. The authors concluded that the research "is the first to comprehensively confirm at protein level
the GOLPH2 upregulation in prostate cancer, which has been suggested in
preceding mRNA profiling studies.

This study is the first to confirm GOLPH2 upregulation in prostate cancer that at the protein level, which has been suggested in
preceding mRNA profiling studies.  The high
rate of GOLPH2 protein overexpression, which is also seen in
AMACR-negative prostate cancer cases, also suggests its potential use as an additional
ancillary positive tissue marker of prostate cancer.

Sources:

British Journal of Cancer
MedWire News