Fused Genes May Help Explain the Origins of Prostate Cancer

Abstract

Cancer researchers at the University of Michigan Medical School have found that around 80% of prostate tumors exhibit gene fusion between the TMPRSS2 gene and either the ERG or ETV1 gene, which encode transcription factors which are involved in gene regulation. This finding may provide a basis for therapeutic drug targeting. Using a bioinformatics approach, they discovered from DNA microarrays that several outlier genes were overexpressed in prostate cancers.