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Updated: Feb 9, 2026
05:19
A New Technique for Treating Low-risk Prostate Cancer—Super Active Surveillance
Published on: November 7, 2025
872
The Diverse Genomic Landscape of Clinically Low-risk Prostate Cancer
Matthew R Cooperberg1, Nicholas Erho2, June M Chan1
1Department of Urology, UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Francisco, CA, USA; Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
European Urology
|June 2, 2018
Summary
Men with clinically low-risk prostate cancer show significant genomic expression diversity. This molecular stratification of low-risk prostate cancer is key to understanding divergent biology and personalizing future treatment.
Area of Science:
- Genomics
- Oncology
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Clinically low-risk prostate cancer exhibits heterogeneity in clinical characteristics and genomic risk.
- Previous studies have documented this heterogeneity, prompting further investigation into tumor biology.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the underlying tumor biology of clinically low-risk prostate cancer.
- To analyze broader patterns of gene expression in men with these tumors.
Main Methods:
- Genome-wide expression profiling of 427 low-risk prostate biopsy cases.
- Comparison with 1290 higher-risk biopsy cases from a genomic registry.
- Analysis of average genomic risk (AGR) and MSigDB hallmark gene sets using bootstrapped clustering.
Main Results:
- Three distinct molecular subtypes (luminal A, luminal B, basal) were identified through gene expression clustering.
- Average genomic risk (AGR) was associated with adverse pathological outcomes (OR 1.34) and biochemical recurrence (HR 1.53).
- Significant genomic heterogeneity exists within tumors traditionally classified as low-risk.
Conclusions:
- Low-risk prostate cancers display substantial genomic expression diversity.
- Molecular stratification can enhance understanding of divergent tumor biology.
- Personalized treatment recommendations may benefit from this detailed molecular subtyping.
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