Researchers at Memorial University in St. John's say they've made a discovery that could help physicians and patients know what kind of treatment to expect after prostate cancer has been diagnosed.

John Toms, a radiation oncologist, and Kenneth Kao, an oncology professor, have found that a protein called pygopus is abundant in aggressive prostate cancers and scarce in healthy prostates.

Toms and Kao believe the protein's presence may help doctors determine if a cancer is going to grow quickly or not.

"It will allow us to more effectively triage patients," said Toms. "To either less aggressive or more aggressive treatment, and to be more effective at improving clinical outcomes."

Cancer difficult to treat

About 500 men in Newfoundland and Labrador will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year. Prostate cancer is difficult to treat, because it's challenging for doctors to determine how quickly prostate tumours will grow.

"We do potentially overtreat some patients and some patients we don't treat aggressively enough," said Toms. "We do still see failures."

Kao said understanding the role of the pygopus protein could possibly lead to a treatment in the future.

"Not only is it found at higher levels in tumour cells but when we remove it from the prostate tumour cells, the tumours stop growing," said Kao.

Research is at early stage

Kao cautioned, that it is too early to tell whether this research will result in a treatment.

The research team has received more than $250,000 from Memorial, the provincial government, and the Canadian Institute for Health Research to pursue their research for two more years.