Differential expression of anterior gradient gene AGR2 in prostate cancer

Gene expression levels of AGR2 were examined in prostate cancer cells by microarray analysis. We further examined the relationship of AGR2 protein expression to histopathology and prostate cancer outcome on a population basis using tissue microarray technology.At the RNA and protein level, there was an increase in AGR2 expression in adenocarcinoma of the prostate compared to morphologically normal prostatic glandular epithelium. Using a tissue microarray, this enhanced AGR2 expression was seen as early as premalignant PIN lesions. Interestingly, within adenocarcinoma samples, there was a slight trend toward lower levels of AGR2 with increasing Gleason score. Consistent with this, relatively lower levels of AGR2 were highly predictive of disease recurrence in patients who had originally presented with high-stage primary prostate cancer (P = 0.009).We have shown for the first time that despite an increase in AGR2 expression in prostate cancer compared to non-malignant cells, relatively lower levels of AGR2 are highly predictive of disease recurrence following radical prostatectomy.It is estimated that in 2010, there will be over 217,000 new cases of prostate cancer and over 32,000 deaths from this disease in the United States alone, making it the most common male cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men [1]. Prostate cancer is generally diagnosed by serum level of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and digital rectal exam. However, although PSA is abundantly synthesized by the prostate, it is not cancer specific, leading to many unnecessary biopsies. Improved markers for both identifying prostate cancer and predicting its outcome are needed. Our approach to discover such markers involved comparative analysis of the transcriptomes of cancer cells and normal cells. These transcriptomes were determined through sorting of specific cell types from appropriate tissue specimens for analysis by Affymetrix DNA microarrays [2]. Genes that were found over