Confirmation of the association of TMPRSS2(exon 0):ERG expression and a favorable prognosis of primary prostate cancer.

摘要

Approximately half of primary prostate tumors harbor overexpression of the oncogene v-ets erythroblastosis virus E26 oncogene homolog (ERG) as a result of a rearrangement with the androgen-regulated and prostate-specific gene transmembrane protease, serine 2 (TMPRSS2) [1]. Great diversity exists in the composition of TMPRSS2:ERG fusion transcripts, but the most common variant involves TMPRSS2 exon 1 linked to ERG exon 4 [2]. Transcription of the gene TMPRSS2 can start not only from its first exon, exon 1, but also from an alternative first exon, denoted in this paper as exon 0 [3].