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Prostate cancer screening research can benefit from network medicine: an emerging awareness

2020; Nature Portfolio; Volume: 6; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1038/s41540-020-0133-0

2056-7189

Valeria Panebianco, Martina Pecoraro, Giulia Fiscon, Paola Paci, Lorenzo Farina, Carlo Catalano,

Molecular Biology Techniques and Applications

Abstract Up to date, screening for prostate cancer (PCa) remains one of the most appealing but also a very controversial topics in the urological community. PCa is the second most common cancer in men worldwide and it is universally acknowledged as a complex disease, with a multi-factorial etiology. The pathway of PCa diagnosis has changed dramatically in the last few years, with the multiparametric magnetic resonance (mpMRI) playing a starring role with the introduction of the “MRI Pathway”. In this scenario the basic tenet of network medicine (NM) that sees the disease as perturbation of a network of interconnected molecules and pathways, seems to fit perfectly with the challenges that PCa early detection must face to advance towards a more reliable technique. Integration of tests on body fluids, tissue samples, grading/staging classification, physiological parameters, MR multiparametric imaging and molecular profiling technologies must be integrated in a broader vision of “disease” and its complexity with a focus on early signs. PCa screening research can greatly benefit from NM vision since it provides a sound interpretation of data and a common language, facilitating exchange of ideas between clinicians and data analysts for exploring new research pathways in a rational, highly reliable, and reproducible way.