Dr. Katz on the Oncotype DX GPS Assay in Prostate Cancer

Aaron E. Katz, MD, FACS, professor, Department of Urology, NYU Long Island School of Medicine, chairman, Department of Urology, Winthrop Hospital, NYU Langone Health’s Perlmutter Cancer Center, discusses the Oncotype DX Genomic Prostate Score (GPS) assay in patients with prostate cancer.

The Oncotype DX Genomic Prostate Score (GPS) assay has been validated by several institutions and is now part of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines to help stratify which patients should be on active surveillance programs, says Katz. This genomic test was developed to analyze the 21 genes expressed in the prostate. Some of these genes are regulated by hormones, while others are proliferated, adds Katz.

The idea behind the functionality of this is assay is incredible, according to Katz. Rather than looking under the microscope and seeing the cellular architecture and describing the Gleason grading system, which has classically been used for many years, Oncotype DX offers an added feature, says Katz. By isolating just the cancer cells and extracting the DNA, a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RTCPR) can be done to better analyze the expression of specific genes and a new GPS can be developed, explains Katz.

This score can provide information on the individualized, specific expression within cancer cells to determine whether they are more or less aggressive than what we had initially thought with examining the classic Gleason grade, adds Katz.

This shows investigators that, even if cancer types fall under a similar category, they may not all behave in the same way, concludes Katz.