Poster Presentation 27th Lorne Cancer Conference 2015

Development of an early detection system for prostate cancer (#276)

Joshua Swift 1 , Julian Cox 1 2 , Tony Pavic 3 , Louise Lutze-Mann 1
  1. School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  2. Faculty of Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, VIC, Australia
  3. Birling Avian Laboratories, Bringelly, NSW, Australia

Cancer is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, with approximately 14 million cases and 8 million deaths being accredited to this condition in 2012 alone (Stewart and Wild, 2014). The WHO attributes this, in large part, to the limited efficacy of currently available diagnostic tools, which prevents the early detection of tumours. More advanced and highly efficacious diagnostic strategies for minimising the mortality of this disease are therefore required. Engrailed 2 (En 2), a homeodomain-containing protein involved in neural development, has been identified as a potential biomarker for prostate cancer, and its expression has been reported in the urine of men with this condition (Morgan et al., 2011). Aberrant expression of En 2 in prostate cancer cell lines and tissue biopsies was detected by qRT-PCR, Western Blot analysis and imunohistochemistry. Also identified was a similar expression pattern in cell lines derived from other cancer types, including pancreatic cancer. En 2 expression in malignant legions was detected by immunohistochemical analysis of Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded (FFPE) prostate cancer biopsies, screening matched pre- and post-cancerous tissue samples for 50 patients to identify the sensitivity and specificity of this potential marker. While biomarkers are commonly detected using mammalian antibodies, such as murine IgG, these antibodies have several shortfalls, including animal welfare concerns, cost, and interference with the mammalian complement system. The avian equivalent, IgY antibodies, overcome many of these issues and may therefore be more suited to this application. This project will generate anti-En 2 IgY antibodies, and assess their efficacy in the detection of this biomarker in cancers of the prostate and pancreas. Ultimately, it is hoped that this study will lead to a screening test, which can be used to lower the burden of this disease.

  1. Morgan, R., Boxall, A., Bhatt, A., Bailey, M., Hindley, R., Langley, S., Whitaker, H.C., Neal, D.E., Ismail, M., Whitaker, H., et al. (2011). Engrailed-2 (EN2): A Tumor Specific Urinary Biomarker for the Early Diagnosis of Prostate Cancer. Clinical Cancer Research 17, 1090-1098.
  2. Stewart, B.W., and Wild, C.P. (2014). World Cancer Report 2014 (International Agency for Research on Cancer: World Health Organisation), pp. 630.