Evaluating the Expression Levels of Human Endogenous Retrovirus-K 10 (HERV-K10) Gag as a Biomarker in Prostate Cancer Tissue.

Prostate cancer is one of the most common major health problems. Several risk factors are potentially involved in its development. Therefore, a biomarker capable of early diagnosis is necessary to facilitate the early detection and treatment of prostate cancer. Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) are abnormally expressed in various diseases. Our study aims to evaluate the specific role of HERV K-10 gag expressions in the progression of prostate cancer. For this, we collected a set of 50 prostate tumor tissue samples as well as 50 healthy tissue samples. After extracting RNA from the prostate samples, we analyzed the expression of HERV-K gag using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). The resulting data revealed a significant correlation of HERV-K gag expression in malignant regions of the prostate in men with prostate cancer than in men without prostate cancer (p < 0.05). The presence of the HERV-K gag protein was detected in 10 of 50 tumor samples (20%), while no healthy samples presented this protein. These results suggest that increased HERV-K gag RNA and protein expression could serve as a sensitive and specific biomarker of prostate malignancy in this cohort of prostate carcinoma patients, further supporting its potential as a promising clinical marker.