Methods of diagnosing or treating prostate cancer using the erg gene, alone or in combination with other over or under expressed genes in prostate cancer

Abstract

The present invention relates to oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes, as well as other genes, involved in prostate cancer and their expression products, as well as derivatives and analogs thereof. Provided are therapeutic compositions and methods of detecting and treating cancer, including prostate and other related cancers. Also provided are methods of diagnosing and/or prognosing prostate cancer by determining the expression level of at least one prostate cancer-cell-specific gene, including, for example, the ERG gene or the LTF gene alone, or in combination with at least one of the AMACR gene and the DD3 gene.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of diagnosing or prognosing prostate cancer in a subject, comprising:
 a) measuring the expression level of an ERG nucleic acid in a biological sample from the subject; and   b) correlating the expression level of the ERG nucleic acid with the presence of prostate cancer in the subject or a higher predisposition of the subject to develop prostate cancer.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the ERG nucleic acid is RNA and the expression level is measured by nucleic acid amplification. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the ERG nucleic acid is ERG1 (SEQ ID NO: 1) or ERG2 (SEQ ID NO:2). 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising measuring the expression levels of an AMACR nucleic acid and correlating the expression levels of the ERG nucleic acid and the AMACR nucleic acid with the presence of prostate cancer in the subject or a higher predisposition of the subject to develop prostate cancer. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the AMACR nucleic acid is SEQ ID NO. 3. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the biological sample is chosen from a tissue sample, a blood sample, or a urine sample. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the biological sample is a prostate tissue sample. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the biological sample is a urine sample. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the expression level of the ERG nucleic acid in the biological sample is compared to the expression level of the ERG nucleic acid in a control sample and wherein an increased expression of the ERG nucleic acid in the biological sample of at least two times compared to the expression of the ERG nucleic acid in the control sample indicates the presence of prostate cancer in the subject or a higher predisposition of the subject to develop prostate cancer. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the control sample is a noncancerous biological sample from the subject. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the expression levels of the ERG nucleic acid and the AMACR nucleic acid in the biological sample is compared to the expression levels of the ERG nucleic acid and the AMACR nucleic acid in a control sample and wherein an increased expression of the ERG nucleic acid and the AMACR nucleic acid in the biological sample of at least two times compared to the expression of the ERG nucleic acid and the AMACR nucleic acid in the control sample indicates the presence of prostate cancer in the subject or a higher predisposition of the subject to develop prostate cancer. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the control sample is a noncancerous biological sample from the subject. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the expression level of the ERG nucleic acid is used to indicate or predict the pathologic stage of prostate cancer. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the expression level of the ERG nucleic acid is correlated with longer PSA recurrence free survival, well and moderate tumor differentiation, a pathologic T stage of pT2 or lower, or a negative surgical margin status. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the expression level of the ERG nucleic acid is correlated with well and moderate tumor differentiation. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the expression level of the ERG nucleic acid is correlated with longer PSA recurrence free survival.