MODELS OF DNA-STRUCTURE ACHIEVE ALMOST PERFECT DISCRIMINATION BETWEENNORMAL PROSTATE, BENIGN PROSTATIC HYPERPLASIA (BPH), AND ADENOCARCINOMA AND HAVE A HIGH-POTENTIAL FOR PREDICTING BPH AND PROSTATE-CANCER

In our previous studies of DNA, wavenumber-absorbance relationships of infrared spectra analyzed by principal components analysis (PCA) were expressed as points in space. Each point represented a highly discrim inating measure of structural modifications that altered vibrational a nd rotational motion, thus changing the spatial orientation of the poi nts. PCA/Fourier transform-infrared technology has now provided a virt ually perfect separation of clusters of points representing DNA from n ormal prostate tissue, BPH, and adenocarcinoma. The findings suggest t hat the progression of normal prostate tissue to BPH and to prostate c ancer involves structural alterations in DNA that are distinctly diffe rent. The hydroxyl radical is likely a major contributor to these stru ctural alterations, which is consistent with previous studies of breas t cancer. Models based on logistic regression of infrared spectral dat a were used to calculate the probability of a tissue being BPH or aden ocarcinoma. The models had a sensitivity and specificity of 100% for c lassifying normal vs. cancer and normal vs. BPH, and close to 100% for BPH vs. cancer. Thus, the PCA/Fourier transform-infrared technology w as shown to be a powerful means for discriminating between normal pros tate tissue, BPH and prostate cancer and has considerable promise for risk prediction and clinical application.