New blood test improves prostate cancer screening

Date:
August 13, 2021
Source:
Karolinska Institutet
Summary:
Researchers recently reported that magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI) could reduce overdiagnoses and thereby improve prostate
cancer screening. Now, the same research group shows that the
addition of a novel blood test, the Stockholm3 test, can reduce
the number of MRIs performed by a third while further preventing
the detection of minor, low-risk tumors.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden recently reported that
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) could reduce overdiagnoses and thereby
improve prostate cancer screening. Now, the same research group has
published a study in The Lancet Oncology, which shows that the addition
of a novel blood test, the Stockholm3 test, can reduce the number of MRIs performed by a third while further preventing the detection of minor,
low-risk tumours.


========================================================================== "Overall, our studies show that we have identified the tools needed
to be able to carry out effective and safe screening for prostate
cancer. After many years of debate and research, it feels fantastic to
be able to present knowledge that can improve healthcare for men," says
Tobias Nordstro"m, associate professor of urology at the Department of
Clinical Sciences, Danderyd Hospital at Karolinska Institutet, who is responsible for the STHLM3MRI study.

Current screening methods -- PSA (prostate-specific antigen)
tests combined with traditional biopsies -- result in unnecessary
biopsies and the detection of numerous minor, low-risk tumours
(overdiagnosis). Consequently, no country except Lithuania has chosen
to introduce a nationwide prostate cancer screening programme, as the
benefits do not outweigh the disadvantages.

On July 9 2021, results from the STHLM3MRI study were presented in
The New England Journal of Medicine, indicating that overdiagnosis
could be reduced by substituting traditional prostate biopsies with
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and targeted biopsies. The new results,
now published in The Lancet Oncology, show that the addition of the
Stockholm3 test, which was developed by researchers at Karolinska
Institutet, can be an important complement. It is a blood test that
uses an algorithm to analyse a combination of protein markers, genetic
markers and clinical data.

"The availability of MRI in healthcare will be a limiting factor. We now
show that a novel blood test as adjunct to MRI can reduce the number
of MRIs performed by a third. Compared with traditional screening, overdiagnosis is reduced by as much as 69 percent. At the same time,
the number of biopsies is halved, while we can find just as many
clinically significant tumours," says Martin Eklund, associate professor
at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, with joint responsibility for the STHLM3MRI study.

STHLM3MRI is a randomised study that was conducted between 2018 and 2021
with 12,750 male participants from Stockholm County. The participants
provided an initial blood sample for PSA analysis and analysis using the
new Stockholm3 test. Men with test results showing elevated PSA levels
were then randomly selected for traditional biopsies or MRI. In the MRI
group, biopsies were conducted strictly on suspected tumours identified
by MRI.

"Separate use of the Stockholm3 test and MRI has previously been shown
to be cost-effective. We have now analysed the cost-effectiveness when
these tools are combined and will shortly report exciting results from
that analysis," Tobias Nordstro"m concludes.

The research was financed by the Swedish Cancer Society, the Swedish
Research Council, the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life
and Welfare, Karolinska Institutet, Hagstrandska Minnesfonden, Region Stockholm, the Swedish Order of Druids, the AAke Wiberg Foundation, the
Swedish e-Science Research Center (SeRC) and Prostatacancerfo"rbundet
(the Prostate Cancer Association).

Early validation was financed by EIT Health.

Henrik Gro"nberg, Martin Eklund and Tobias Nordstro"m are partners of
the company A3P Biomedical AB, which holds the development rights of
the Stockholm3 test.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Karolinska_Institutet. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. T. Nordstro"m, A. Discacciati, M. Bergman, M. Clements, M. Aly, M.

Annerstedt, A. Glaessgen, S. Carlsson, F. Ja"derling, H. Gro"nberg,
M.

Eklund. Prostate cancer screening using a combination of
risk-prediction, magnetic resonance imaging and targeted prostate
biopsies: results from the population-based STHLM3MRI trial. The
Lancet Oncology, 2021 DOI: 10.1016/_S1470-2045(21)00348-X ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/08/210813100313.htm

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