Small molecules in the blood may help predict men most at risk for aggressive forms of prostate cancer, UF Health Cancer Institute researchers and collaborators have found.
“Although these findings require confirmation in larger studies, this study provides a foundation for future work on blood-based biomarkers that may improve earlier detection and risk assessment for prostate cancer in Black American men,” said Alex Yoon, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the UF Department of Surgery and lead author of the new study, published recently in the British Journal of Cancer.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer and the second-leading cause of cancer death among men in the United States. Black American men are diagnosed at higher rates than any other racial or ethnic group. They’re more likely to be diagnosed at a younger age, and they’re twice as likely to die from prostate cancer than white men.
Metabolomics research looks at small molecules, called metabolites, that are produced during the body’s natural processes and can be measured in the blood or urine. Most metabolomics research in prostate cancer has focused on men of European ancestry. Evidence about metabolite patterns that may be linked to prostate cancer risk in Black American men is limited, Yoon said.
In the new study, researchers analyzed plasma from 195 Black American men who later developed prostate cancer and 379 matched controls from the Southern Community Cohort Study.
Using a metabolomics platform that measured more than 1,500 circulating compounds, the team identified seven metabolites independently associated with prostate cancer risk. Two metabolites were linked specifically to an aggressive form.
The team plans to further study the potential mechanisms.
In addition to Yoon, UF Health Cancer Institute member Jae Jeong Yang, Ph.D., is a co-author. They collaborated with researchers at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, which funded the study along with the UF Health Cancer Institute and National Institutes of Health.
