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Current non-invasive approaches for bladder cancer (BC) detection are suboptimal. We report the development of non-invasive molecular test for BC using DNA recovered from cells shed into urine. This “UroSEEK” test incorporates assays for mutations in 11 genes and copy number changes on 39 chromosome arms. We first evaluated 570 urine samples from patients at risk for BC (microscopic hematuria or dysuria). UroSEEK was positive in 83% of patients that developed BC, but in only 7% of patients who did not develop BC. Combined with cytology, 95% of patients that developed BC were positive. We then evaluated 322 urine samples from patients soon after their BCs had been surgically resected. UroSEEK detected abnormalities in 66% of the urine samples from these patients, sometimes up to 4 years prior to clinical evidence of residual neoplasia, while cytology was positive in only 25% of such urine samples. The advantages of UroSEEK over cytology were particularly evident in low-grade tumors, wherein cytology detected none while UroSEEK detected 67% of 49 cases. These results establish the foundation for a new, non-invasive approach to the detection of BC in patients at risk for initial or recurrent disease.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is a leading cause of cancer death and distinguishing life threatening tumors from indolent ones is a major challenge. The identification and characterization of genomic alterations associated with advanced disease may lead to the development of new markers of progression and more efficient therapeutic approaches. Array-CGH data have shown that gain of chromosome 16p13.3 to be associated with lymph node (LN) metastases of PCa, but this region remained uncharacterized. Our goal was to establish the prognostic value of 16p13.3 gain, and identify the cancer relevant genes residing within this region. In this study, we performed Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH) to detect the copy number gain of chromosome 16p13.3 in 75 PCa samples including 10 lymph node (LN) metastases and their matched primary tumors, 9 transurethral resections of prostate (TURP) tissue samples of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), and 46 additional primary PCa specimens with clinicopathological parameters. We detected the gain in 5/10 LN metastases and 3/5 matched primary tumors, 3/9 CRPC samples, and 9/46 (20 %) primary tumors. In the latter set of samples, the 16p13.3 alteration was associated with high Gleason score (P=0.002) and elevated pre operative prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels (P=0.047). The levels of 16p13.3 gain were higher in LN metastasis and CRPC specimens compared to primary PCa (P>0.05). Chromosome mapping revealed a focal gain that spans PDPK1 encoding the 3-Phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase-1 (PDK1). RNA interference-mediated knock down of PDK1 in three different PCa cell lines reduced cell motility without affecting growth and re-expressing PDK1 rescued motility (P>0.05). Our results support that the 16p13.3 gain is relevant to PCa progression and may represent an early marker of metastasis, since retrieved in primary PCa which is sampled by biopsies at time of diagnosis. PDK1 is implicated in PCa cell motility, a critical step for progression to metastasis. These findings provide further rationale for considering PDK1 as a target for cancer therapies and the development of new specific inhibitors of PDK1. Citation Format: Khalil Choucair, Fadi Brimo, Isabela W Cunha, Armen Aprikian, Martin Gleave, Jacques Lapointe, Karl-Philippe Guérard, Joshua Ejdelman, Simone Chevalier, Maisa Yoshimoto, Eleonora Scarlata, Ladan Fazli, Kanishka Sircar, Jeremy A. Squire. The 16p13.3 genomic gain in prostate cancer: A role for PDK1 in disease progression [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Advances in Prostate Cancer Research; 2012 Feb 6-9; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(4 Suppl):Abstract nr C25.