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A New Technique for Treating Low-risk Prostate Cancer—Super Active Surveillance
Published on: November 7, 2025
Clinically localised prostate cancer is microsatellite stable
Abdel-Rahmene Azzouzi1, James W F Catto, Ishtiaq Rehman
1Service d'Urologie, CHU d'Angers, Centre de Recherche pour les Pathologies Protatiques, Université Paris VII, Paris, France, and Department of Pathology, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, UK. arazzouzi@chu-angers.fr
BJU International
|January 20, 2007
Summary
Microsatellite instability (MSI) is rare in early prostate cancer. Analysis of mono-, di-, and tetranucleotide markers showed low MSI rates, suggesting it
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Genetics
Background:
- Microsatellite instability (MSI) is a hallmark of certain cancers, particularly hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer, and can be detected using mono-, di-, and tetranucleotide markers.
- Elevated microsatellite alterations at select tetranucleotides (EMAST) represent a distinct form of MSI observed at tetranucleotide repeats.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the frequency of MSI using both traditional Bethesda Consensus Panel (BCP) markers and EMAST-specific tetranucleotide markers in clinically localized prostate cancer.
- To correlate MSI findings with relevant clinical and pathological variables in prostate cancer patients.
Main Methods:
- Prostate tissue specimens were obtained from 50 patients.
- Microsatellite analysis was performed using the 10-marker BCP and four additional tetranucleotide loci to detect EMAST.
Main Results:
- Overall, 14 microsatellite loci were analyzed across 50 prostate tumors.
- Low rates of MSI were observed: 4% of tumors showed instability with BCP markers (APC gene), and 4% showed instability with EMAST markers.
- The four tumors exhibiting instability were unstable at only one locus, and would have been classified as microsatellite stable (MSS) by the full BCP criteria.
Conclusions:
- MSI, whether associated with mismatch repair deficiency or EMAST, appears to play a minimal role in the pathogenesis of early-stage prostate cancer.
- The findings suggest that MSI is not a significant factor in localized prostate cancer development.
