ZINC-BASED DIAGNOSTIC FOR PROSTATE CANCER

We shall develop analytical tools for measuring the amount and speciation of zinc in semen; these tools will facilitate basic research and may lead to a zinc-based diagnostic kit for prostate cancer. According to the prevailing literature, semen zinc falls by 50 percent-90 percent in the early stages of prostate cancer while not changing in benign hypertrophy. If this is true, a combined measurement of semen zinc (falling in cancer) and serum PSA (rising in cancer) could provide sensitive and selective early diagnosis for prostate cancer. We envision test kits for routine testing of seminal zinc in the clinic, or even at home. Our Phase I goals are (i) develop methods and materials for measuring all the different seminal zinc pools (free, microligand-bound, protein bound, spermatozoan), (ii) establish preliminary norms for the various zinc pools in control men and (iii) measure the same parameters in samples from select prostate cancer patients. If Phase I results warrant continuation, in Phase II we will (i) prototype procedures for home/office kits for testing semen zinc, (ii) gather large-sample clinical data on zinc as a screening tool for prostate cancer (iii) develop quantitative models of the best multi-zinc pool diagnostic of cancer.