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4KSCORE, Diario Medico, opko health

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Portada > Área Científica > Especialidades > Urología

The test 4Kscore reduce prostate biopsies ( http://urologia.diariomedico.com/2014/11/05/area-cientifica/especialidades/urologia/test-4kscore-reducira-biopsias-prostata )

It is composed of plasma quantitative determinations algorithm four markers: total, free and intact PSA and human kallikrein 2.

Maria Sanchez-Monge. Madrid | [e-mail] | 11/05/2014 17:47

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Miñana Bernardino, José Manuel and Elsa Cózar Genove in the presentation of the new test. (Jose Luis Pindado)

A new blood test, available in Spain from September, can provide new arguments in the eternal dilemma in the early detection of prostate cancer: Should I biopsy my patient or I can continue with the determination of PSA in the blood? The 4Kscore test, presented in Madrid by the company that has developed, Opko and the Spanish Association of Urology (EAU), assesses the risk that a patient has prostate cancer high grade with high specificity.

The test is composed of plasma quantitative determinations of four markers, corresponding kallikrein protein including PSA, free PSA, human kallikrein 2 intact and algorithm also includes the age, condition of TR (or not nodules nodes) and the information about the completion of a previous biopsy to provide a percentage of likelihood that a prostate biopsy is positive for high-grade cancer (Gleason score greater than or equal to 7).

Developed by an international team of researchers led by Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, this probabilistic method has been validated by studying thousands of patients. As discussed Miñana Bernardino, member of scientific activities of the AEU with it "could save 20 percent of the 60,000 biopsies performed annually in Spain."

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Specifically, it has been found that the patients who can benefit from this system risk assessment are those in which the PSA is only slightly higher, ie from 4 (in some hospitals, the threshold 3 is reduced) and 10 ng / ml.

The results are presented as percentages and, as highlighted Miñana, the introduction of this test in clinical practice will help doctors and patients make shared decisions: "If, for example, the test yields a possibility of Prostate Cancer 5 percent, the patient will discuss with your urologist performing a biopsy or not. Probably in that case it is best to continue analyzing PSA levels regularly. "

New biopsies
Furthermore, the specialist adds, "biopsy rules out the existence of a large prostate cancer, but not small. The test sheds more light on this group of patients and helps them decide whether to repeat biopsy."

José Manuel Cózar, president of the AEU, has added another possible use: "Once you have already been diagnosed with cancer, using this test we know the risk of being aggressive and, therefore, whether to launch a implement therapy or active surveillance, something that is already done in the countries of northern Europe and in Spain may have lacked determination to do it. "

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Indeed, the AEU and Opko have agreed to conduct a study involving 300 Spanish patients who have been diagnosed with cancer of low grade, which will assess whether the 4Kscore helps decide the therapeutic strategy .

Finally, the director Opko Technology in Spain, Elsa Genove, explained that since September have used the test several Spanish hospitals, including Miguel Servet, Zaragoza, and La Paz, Madrid. The 126 samples were processed at the Center for Biomedical Diagnostic Clinic Hospital of Barcelona, ??where the analysis is centralized.

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The cancers of small, localized, well-differentiated prostate is increasing, mainly as a result of screening with PSA and multicylinder prostate biopsy schemes. It has been observed that many of the men with localized prostate cancer do not need, indeed, a definitive treatment. In order to reduce the risk of overtreatment in this subgroup of patients, have proposed two conservative treatment strategies, which are included in what is known as active surveillance and watchful waiting. To this end, the development of new diagnostic and prognostic test is particularly useful.