Comprehensive assessment of TMPRSS2 and ETS family gene aberrations in clinically localized prostate cancer.
Novel recurrent gene fusions between the androgen-regulated gene TMPRSS2 and the ETS family members ERG, ETV1, or ETV4 have been recently identified as a common molecular event in prostate cancer development. We comprehensively analyzed the frequency and risk of disease progression for the TMPRSS2 and ETS family genes rearrangements in a cohort of 96 American men surgically treated for clinically localized prostate cancer. Using three break apart (TMPRSS2, ERG, ETV4) and one fusion (TMPRSS:ETV1) fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assays, we identified rearrangements in TMPRSS2, ERG, ETV1, and ETV4 in 65, 55, 2, and 2% of cases, respectively. Overall, 54 and 2% of cases demonstrated TMPRSS2:ERG and TMPRSS2:ETV1 fusions, respectively. As intronic loss of genomic DNA between TMPRSS2 and ERG has been identified as a mechanism of TMPRSS2:ERG fusion, our assays allowed us to detect deletion of the 3' end of TMPRSS2 and the 5' end of ERG in 41 and 39% of cases rearranged for respective genes. Prostate cancers demonstrating TMPRSS2 gene rearrangement were associated with high pathologic stage (P=0.04). Our results confirm that recurrent chromosomal aberrations in TMPRSS2 and/or ETS family members are found in about 70% of prostate cancers. Importantly, we define a novel approach to study these gene fusions and identified cases where TMPRSS2 was rearranged without rearrangement of ERG, ETV1 or ETV4 and cases with ETS family gene rearrangement without TMPRSS2 rearrangement, suggesting that novel 5' and 3' partners may be involved in gene fusions in prostate cancer.
Mehra
Rohit
R
Department of Pathology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
Tomlins
Scott A
SA
Shen
Ronglai
R
Nadeem
Owais
O
Wang
Lei
L
Wei
John T
JT
Pienta
Kenneth J
KJ
Ghosh
Debashis
D
Rubin
Mark A
MA
Chinnaiyan
Arul M
AM
Shah
Rajal B
RB
D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases / Q000235:genetics*; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000235:genetics*
D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D015534:Trans-Activators; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases; C421305:TMPRSS2 protein, human