Drs. Scott Tomlins and Arul Chinnaiyan
of the University of Michigan discovered a gene fusion abnormality
known as T2:ERG that is present in
half of all prostate cancers and
is thought to be an initiator of this disease.
A new urine test, based in part on
detecting T2:ERG,
is now available to aid in early
detection of prostate cancer.
When scientists and doctors disagree over the finer points
of our medical care, the best the rest of us can do is talk with our own
doctors, read about the debate so we are as informed as possible, and perhaps
do a bit of advocacy to fund the research needed to solve the debate. In May of
last year, one such debate erupted when a group of physicians and scientists
convened by the U.S. government to make health care recommendations for the
general public changed course from prior years and called for an end to the
routine use of a blood test that screens men for prostate cancer.