Prostate Cancer Gene Expression Marker 1 (PCGEM1): A Patented Prostate- Specific Non-Coding Gene and Regulator of Prostate Cancer Progression

Abstract

The search for a classic biomarker for prostate cancer has been on for a very long time, and it is still elusive. Despite the extensive and prolonged use of the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) as a screening tool for prostate cancer, many clinicians still identify its limitations in the grading of tumors, and monitoring of response to treatment. These limitations are based on the concealment of cancer by low levels of PSA, and over diagnosis and over treatment that are resultant of excessively high levels of antigens. To overcome these limitations, a plethora of candidate biomarkers have been investigated and identified. Regrettably, none of these putative biomarkers has shown ideal utility for prostate cancer detection and prognostication. In spite of these, various patents have been filed and granted for several of these biomarkers. The discovery of an exclusive marker for prostate cancer may be mired by the heterogeneity of the disease, since the molecular mediators of the disease are linked with its etiopathogenesis. Thus the search for biomarkers of prostate cancer must recognize its etiology and downstream mediators. In this review, PCGEM1, a patented prostatespecific non-coding RNA gene with an upregulated transcription in African American malignancy will be discussed in relationship to the etiology of prostate cancer.

Long Non-Coding RNAs in Haematological Malignancies

“…Thus, the expression of HULC and other lncRNAs can be used to differentiate between subtypes of the same cancer or to identify unknown primary tumours. Similarly, PCGEM1 , PCA3 or PRNCR1 are three lncRNAs exclusively associated with prostate cancer [123,246,247]. Also, as in the case with miRNAs, some lncRNAs can be detected in body fluids by quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and therefore enable non-invasive diagnoses.…”

The hallmarks of cancer

“…PCGEM1, PCA3 (Prostate cancer gene 3) or PRNCR1 (prostate cancer non-coding RNA 1) are three long ncRNAs exclusively associated with prostate cancer 175 - 177 . This makes them interesting candidates for tumor- and tissue-specific treatments and their expression can be used to identify unknown primary tumors.…”

The Long Noncoding RNA SPRIGHTLY Regulates Cell Proliferation in Primary Human Melanocytes

“…LncRNAs play important physiological roles in normal cellular development and differentiation (Dinger et al, 2008), but changes in lncRNA expression are also associated with several diseases including cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, psoriasis, and spinocerebellar ataxia type 8 (Esteller, 2011). For examples, in cancer, increased HOTAIR expression is associated with poor prognosis pancreatic cancer (Kim et al, 2013) and increased expression of PCGEM1 and PCA3/DD3 are associated with the development of prostate cancer (Ifere and Ananaba, 2009). …”