Prostate cancer treatments are unclear yet. But recently researchers have found that when two genes are combined together may cause prostate cancer, because it blocks the receptor for the hormone androgen, impeding prostate cells from developing normally.

A recent study of the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center showed that that the gene fusion is a more definite process in prostate cancer and is the real smoking gun that should be deadline only by special treatments.

"We need to start to think about targeting prostate cancer by targeting the gene fusion, and not restricting our accesses to androgen receptor. If we are going to find a longer and more effective therapy, we need to get at the gene fusion," declared Arul Chinnaiyan, M.D. Ph.D., director of the Michigan Center for Translational Pathology and S.P. Hicks Endowed Professor of Pathology at the U-M Medical School.

In the past, a lot of studies found that treatments for prostate cancer usually include drugs to calm only androgen, a male hormone that regulates the normal growth of the prostate. These drugs usually work only a short period, but over time the cancer cells become more resistant to the therapy and the cancer again is restored.

For example in 2005, Chinnaiyan and his research team found that a prostate-specific gene called TMPRSS2 that fuses with a cancer-causing gene called ERG. But a team's earlier investigation has shown that this gene combination acts as an "on switch" to invoke prostate cancer.

But this recent study used modernized procedures to transform the genome-wide position of androgen receptor and the TMPRSS2-ERG gene fusion in prostate cancer cells. In the end the researchers observed that the gene fusion blocks the androgen receptor directly and also interferes with it at the genetic level for to prevent normal androgen receptor alarming. Also with the androgen receptor blocked, prostate cells stop growing and in this way developing in a normal manner, allowing cancer to develop.

So, Chinnaiyan concluded that this study shows the underlying problem in prostate cancer is the presence of a gene fusion, not the androgen receptor. In many contexts, androgen signaling is actually a good thing, but the presence of the gene fusion blocks androgen receptor signaling, which alters normal prostate cell development.

Statistics show that 192,280 Americans will have prostate cancer at the end of this year and approximately 27,360 of them will die from this disease.