Biomarkers of Prostate Cancer Progression Identified with Biochemical Profiling Technology

Metabolon, Inc., the leader in metabolomics-driven biomarker discovery and analysis, today announced that the company’s global biochemical profiling technology has been used to identify biomarkers indicative of prostate cancer progression. The results of the study, conducted with researchers at the University of Michigan, will be published in the February 12 issue of Nature in a paper titled “Metabolomic profiles delineate potential role for sarcosine in prostate cancer progression”.

The study described in the Nature paper was undertaken to better understand and profile the metabolic changes associated with prostate cancer progression. Using Metabolon’s biochemical profiling to generate global, non-targeted metabolic analysis of tissue, urine and plasma samples, the researchers were able to identify a series of metabolites (including sarcosine) that are key potential predictors of cancer aggressiveness.

Applying the biomarkers identified in this study, under exclusive license from the University of Michigan, Metabolon plans to make available a research tool for investigators to better understand tumor aggressivity in prostate cancer and other cancers.

“Gaining mechanistic understanding of a disease is the key to discovering new diagnostics,” said John Ryals, chief executive with Metabolon. “The exciting results of this study are an example of just how valuable metabolomic profiling is in the identification of biomarkers.”

The lead author of the paper, Dr. Arul M. Chinnaiyan, M.D., Ph.D., director, Michigan Center for Translational Pathology and S.P. Hicks endowed professor of pathology, led the research studies that resulted in the discovery of the prostate cancer progression biomarkers described in the Nature publication. Dr. Chinnaiyan’s team focuses on the development of new molecular tests and therapies for human disease with a primary focus on cancer.

The complete publication detailing the results of this study can be accessed online by clicking on the article webpage link at the right of the page, as well as in the February 12, 2009 print edition of Nature.