Identifying immunotherapeutic targets for prostate carcinoma through the analysis of gene expression profiles

Carcinoma of the prostate represents one of the most frequently diagnosed cancers in men. If detected at an early stage, prostate cancer is highly treatable. However, cancers identified at a late stage are rarely cured with contemporary medical therapies. Early detection strategies presently center on the identification of prostate-specific proteins in the serum, and emerging therapeutics have utilized genes and proteins with prostate-restricted expression for tissue-selective immunological regimens incorporating vaccines, dendritic cell therapy, gene therapy, and antibody-based cell targeting. In order to develop improved therapeutic procedures, efforts have been directed toward the identification of genes exhibiting prostate-restricted expression profiles, or altered expression levels in neoplastic cells relative to their normal counterparts. Comprehensive expression profiling approaches such as the analysis of oligonucleotide- or complementary DNA (cDNA)-microarrays have greatly enhanced these efforts. Genes and their cognate proteins identified using such methods offer additional diagnostic and therapeutic targets that may aid in the understanding and treatment of prostate carcinoma.