Prostate Cancer: DNA Organization Holds a Key to Distinguish Low- and High-Risk Cases
An interdisciplinary Italian team, composed of researchers from the CNR, the National Institute of Molecular Genetics (INGM), the Institute of Molecular Oncology IFOM, and the Policlinico di Milano Hospital, has published a study in Nature Communications proposing a new method to distinguish low-risk prostate tumors from aggressive ones.
Using the 4f-SAMMY-seq technology, researchers analyzed the three-dimensional organization of chromatin in tumor biopsies, identifying two subtypes: one with minimal reorganization and one with extensive alterations, surprisingly associated with a better prognosis. The study led to the identification of an 18-gene molecular signature, validated on over 900 patients, useful for risk stratification and guiding personalized therapies.
Francesco Ferrari, researcher at IGM-CNR and Director of the Computational Genomics Laboratory at IFOM, co-coordinated the study together with Chiara Lanzuolo (ITB-CNR; INGM).