In a new study, a team of researchers highlights the benefits of prostate cancer screening, especially among Black men. Since implementing prostate-specific antigen screening (PSA) in the 80s, there have been controversies as those screenings may lead to over-diagnosis. The authors used epidemiologic data from 30 years of health records to study possible screening related tradeoffs. The study results showed that “for Black men diagnosed with prostate cancer using PSA, the test prevented one death for every eight to 12 men”. The researchers showcase the importance of updating the clinical guidelines, especially guidelines where race-specific recommendations are exceedingly lacking. The study was published in NEJM Evidence on May 15.

For guidelines to be inclusive, changes must also be implemented in clinical trial enrollment. The Food and Drug Administration is working on making the trials more inclusive, as described by Lola Fashoyin-Aje, Deputy Division Director & Assoc. Dir, Science & Policy to Address Disparities, Oncology Center of Excellence- FDA.

• Researchers from the UK used sodium magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to discover, in a preclinical study, that tumors, unlike healthy tissue, had elevated sodium concentration ([Na+]). The findings demonstrated that sodium levels in tumors of breast cancer patients could be predictors of cancer aggressiveness and the potential efficacy of chemotherapy treatment. The study was published in British Journal of Cancer.
• A study led by the University of Granada in Spain discovered that men with prostate cancer had lower levels of melatonin, the sleep-inducing hormone, than men without the disease. The study was published in Journal of Urology.
• Scientists in the UK have discovered bacteria linked to aggressive prostate cancer. By performing genetic analyses on the urine and prostate tissue, they found five species of bacteria connected to cancer progression. If the role of bacteria is confirmed in the ongoing experiments, that will pave the way for new ways of prevention and treatment of prostate cancer. The study was published in European Urology Oncology.
• Researchers from the University of Wisconsin have created a drug-releasing hydrogel to reduce the possibility of local cancer recurrence (colon cancer, melanoma, and triple-negative breast cancer) after surgery. Human clinical trials are needed as this was a preclinical study done on mice. Those findings could potentially be used in other types of cancer. The study was published in Nature Communications.
• The new research by Genetch, Inc., the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Center explained how tumor cells or cells infected by pathogens resist killing by T cells, known as cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs).The in vitro study demonstrated that ESCRT protein recruitment helped cancer cells resist CTL attacks. The study was published in Science and commented upon in the same issue.