Sarcosine Levels and Prostate Cancer

A recent study published in the Journal Nature ( Feb 2009) revealed that researchers have found that blood levels of a chemical called sarcosine, a derivative of the amino acid glycine, are higher in patients with aggressive prostate cancer as opposed to levels in patients with less aggressive prostate cancer.

Ultimately, measuring sarcosine levels could be an addition to the commonly used PSA test. The PSA test is quite useful for detecting prostate cancer but not as useful in providing prognostic information.

One of the conundrums in modern treatment for prostate cancer is identifying aggressive prostate cancer versus less aggressive cancer as treatments may change depending on the aggressiveness.

In addition, researchers that adding sarcosine to benign tumors in laboratory dishes made the cells more aggressive and , blocking sarcosine production made   cancer cells less aggressive.

This line of research is called metabolomics. Metabolomics is the study of all the metabolites associated with an organ.

In this study, researchers at the University of Michigan, identified over 1100 metabolites from samples of benign prostates, localized prostate cancers, and aggressive prostate cancers.

They discovered 10 chemicals whose levels increased during the progression of prostate cancer. The most substantial results were seen with sarcosine. The levels of sarcosine did not increase at all in benign prostate samples but increased in 42% of early stage prostate cancer patients and in 79% of advanced prostate cancer patients.

Sarcosine was also identified in the urine of prostate cancer patients. Thus, it may be possible in the near future to have a non-invasive urine test which could help predict the aggressiveness of disease and help guide treatment decisons.

These results will have to be confirmed in larger studies. In addition, researchers are looking at using a panel of chemicals which increased in prostate cancer progression instead of just sarcosine.