Ricerc@Sapienza

Cancer of the prostate is now recognized as one of the most important medical problems facing the male population.
To date, countless efforts have been made to develop prostate cancer biomarkers that can accurately identify men with prostate cancer
at an early stage, and those who would benefit from early therapeutic intervention.
Recently identified microRNAs are a class of small non-coding RNAs, and some of their innate properties make them highly attractive
as potential biomarkers. miRNAs can be readily detected in small volume samples using specific and sensitive quantitative real-time
PCR; they have been isolated from most body fluids, including serum, plasma, urine, saliva, breast milk, tears and semen and are
known to circulate in a highly stable, cell-free form. To date, an association between PCa and several miRNAs has already been
tentatively established. However, their use is limited by conflicting data between studies due to lack of standardization in methodology
and the lack of suitable reference genes for normalization. Therefore no miR-based diagnostic test has yet been approved for the early
detection of prostate cancer.
We postulated that a blood-based miRNA signature derived from rigorous standardization of methods and patients could be pursued to develop new diagnostic/prognostic tools for prostate cancer patients.
Therefore we proposed with the current study to identify a class of differentially expressed miRNAs in prostate cancer patients vs.
normal control.
Successful completion of the proposed study will provide new tools for diagnosis, assessment of disease prognosis, and prediction to
treatments response in prostate cancer.