A talk this week will focus on an exciting new set of indicators to improve the diagnosis of prostate cancer.

Timed for the beginning of Men's Health Week (9-15 June), University of Adelaide research fellow Dr Luke Selth has presented a new discovery showing seminal fluid (semen) contains biomarkers for the disease.

Results of a study now published in the journal Endocrine-Related Cancer indicate that the presence of certain molecules in seminal fluid indicates not only whether a man has prostate cancer, but also the severity of the cancer.

Dr Selth says the finding will add to the arsenal, which already includes the commonly-used PSA (prostate specific antigen) test.

“While the PSA test is very sensitive, it is not highly specific for prostate cancer,” Dr Selth said.

“This results in many unnecessary biopsies of non-malignant disease. More problematically, PSA testing has resulted in substantial over-diagnosis and over-treatment of slow growing, non-lethal prostate cancers that could have been safely left alone.

“Biomarkers that can accurately detect prostate cancer at an early stage and identify aggressive tumours are urgently needed to improve patient care. Identification of such biomarkers is a major focus of our research,” he said.

Using samples from 60 men, Dr Selth and colleagues discovered a number of small ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules called microRNAs in seminal fluid that are known to be increased in prostate tumours.

Researchers said some of the microRNAs were surprisingly accurate in detecting cancer.

“The presence of these microRNAs enabled us to more accurately discriminate between patients who had cancer and those who didn't, compared with a standard PSA test,” Dr Selth said.

“We also found that the one specific microRNA, miR-200b, could distinguish between men with low grade and higher grade tumours. This is important because, as a potential prognostic tool, it will help to indicate the urgency and type of treatment required.”

The team is now expanding on their studies, using larger patient groups to validate their findings.