Blood vessels may predict prostate cancer

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- Blood vessel type may predict how aggressively a prostate tumor will proceed, U.S. researchers said.

The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, found aggressive or lethal prostate cancers tend to have blood vessels that are small, irregular and primitive in cross-section, while slow-growing or indolent tumors have blood vessels that look more normal.

"It's as if aggressive prostate cancers are growing faster and their blood vessels never fully mature," study leader Dr. Steven Clinton of Ohio State's Comprehensive Cancer Center-James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, both in Columbus, said in a statement. "If we can better determine at the time of biopsy or prostatectomy who is going to relapse, we can start treatment earlier, when the chance for a cure may be better."

The study of 572 men with localized prostate cancer was done in collaboration with the Harvard School of Public Health. The researchers analyzed tumor samples and clinical outcome data from men participating in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, which involves 51,529 male North American dentists, optometrists, podiatrists, pharmacists and veterinarians.

After an average follow-up of 10 years, 44 of the 572 men had developed metastatic cancer or died of their cancer.