October 23, 2026, 3:57 pm | Read time: 5 minutes
Can the risk of prostate cancer be detected in the blood years before a diagnosis? Researchers have investigated whether certain proteins in the blood can indicate a future illness. They were particularly interested in aggressive tumors, which are often associated with a poorer prognosis.
Indications of Prostate Cancer Years Before Diagnosis
An international research team led by the University of Oxford identified a total of 53 proteins associated with the risk of prostate cancer or specific forms of the disease. Some of these were linked to aggressive tumors. Others showed significant associations with the risk of disease more than 15 years before a later diagnosis. The results suggest that certain blood proteins could help assess prostate cancer risk in the future. 1
How the Study Was Conducted
Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers among men worldwide. However, the biological processes contributing to its development and particularly aggressive disease courses are not yet fully understood.2
To find possible early indications of the disease, the scientists examined blood samples from the large European EPIC study. These were taken years before a potential cancer diagnosis.
In total, the research team analyzed blood samples from 982 men who later developed prostate cancer, as well as from 1,573 men from a randomly selected comparison group. More than 6,400 different proteins were recorded. The possible follow-up period averaged around 16.5 years.
The goal was to determine which proteins are associated with the later risk of disease and whether there are indications of particularly aggressive tumors. Additional investigations with independent datasets and genetic analyses were conducted to verify the results.
Blood Proteins Also Noticeable in Aggressive Prostate Cancer
In a more detailed analysis, it was found that the proteins were associated with different forms of prostate cancer. Three of them (ACP3, FLT4, and KLK3) were linked to the general risk of disease. The connection was particularly strong with KLK3–the protein better known as PSA (prostate-specific antigen) and already used in early detection. Men with higher levels were significantly more likely to develop the disease later.
Seven proteins, on the other hand, were associated with particularly aggressive forms of prostate cancer. One of them, ANKRD1, was noticeable both in men who later developed severe or advanced tumors and in those who died from the disease.
The timing of the diagnosis also played a role: Nine proteins were associated with diseases diagnosed within five years after blood collection. Twelve proteins even showed a connection with prostate cancer diagnosed more than 15 years later.
These included proteins that play a role in immune defense. Depending on the protein, higher levels were associated with either a lower or higher risk of disease. For example, a higher level of the immune protein GZMK was linked to a lower risk of future diseases–which could indicate protective immune surveillance.
Additionally, the scientists discovered noticeable blood values in proteins produced by known cancer driver genes (such as ERBB3 or KRAS). The results could therefore help better understand which processes in the body are involved in the development of prostate cancer.
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Study Assessment
The strengths of the study include the large number of proteins examined and the long observation period. Additionally, the researchers were able to distinguish between different forms of prostate cancer and verify their results with further investigations.
However, the study also has weaknesses. For some severe disease courses, only a few cases were available. Moreover, information on whether more than half of the patients had an aggressive tumor was missing. This could have influenced the results.
Furthermore, the results could only be partially confirmed in other studies. Important information, such as family history of prostate cancer or the use of certain medications, was also missing. Therefore, it cannot be ruled out that other factors influenced the observed associations.
Since the observed risk differences for the individual proteins were mostly moderate, the researchers emphasize that these are currently candidates for research. Further studies are needed before these proteins can be used in practice to assess prostate cancer risk.
Also of interest: Widespread chemical apparently causes prostate cancer
What Previous Studies Showed
A study analyzing data from the UK Biobank in Britain came to similar conclusions.3 The researchers measured nearly 1,500 proteins in the blood of about 23,800 men who initially did not have prostate cancer. About 1,200 of them developed the disease in the following nearly 15 years. Two proteins, TSPAN1 and GP2, were particularly significant. Their levels rose about nine and six years before diagnosis, respectively. Notably, these are different proteins than those in the Oxford study, indicating that research on such blood markers is still in its early stages.
The Oxford team’s 2024 study already suggested that blood proteins can be noticeable long before a cancer diagnosis.4 Among more than 44,000 participants in the UK Biobank, the researchers found 618 associations between proteins and 19 types of cancer, including prostate cancer. Of these, 107 were also observed in diseases diagnosed more than seven years after blood collection.