IVD Technology Magazine
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Originally published March, 1998

IVD Technology News

New prospect for detecting prostate cancer risk

It has long been apparent to physicians that finding an associated risk factor for prostate cancer—like cholesterol for heart disease—could improve prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. In a collaborative effort with the physicians' health study at Brigham and Women's Hospital (Boston), researchers at Harvard University believe they have found one such factor.

According to the study, which included about 22,000 subjects, men with high levels of insulinlike growth factor—I (IGF-I) are four times more likely to develop prostate cancer than men with the lowest levels.

During the study's 10 years, 520 men developed prostate cancer, with 152 having sufficient frozen blood samples for IGF-I research.

Authors stress that the data are preliminary and clinical applications years away. It is unclear whether IGF-I has a causal or merely associated role in prostate cancer. June Chan, a Harvard School of Public Health graduate student and lead author, notes that "identifying men at high risk and prolonging life are two separate issues."—G.W.