Test created for different prostate cancer

NEW YORK, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say there are different kinds of prostate cancer, some more lethal than others, and they are working on tests to identify aggressive tumors.

Researchers at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center/Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City have identified secondary mutations linked to more lethal prostate cancers.

The study, published online in Genome Research, suggested the possibility of a test to identify aggressive cancer tumors by their accumulated multiple mutations -- hybrid genes formed from two previously separate genes -- known as fusions.

"In the future, these fusions, specific to certain types of prostate cancer, may help physicians prescribe tailored therapies for their patients," study leader Dr. Mark Rubin says in a statement. "This is an important step toward providing specific therapies that target individual cancer variants, and our hope is these findings will help doctors diagnose a patient's specific disease."

Rubin and colleagues seek to co-develop a test for lethal prostate cancer with researchers at the University of Michigan and two commercial partners, Gen-Probe and Ventana/Roche.