A simple blood test may be able to identify men at high risk of prostate cancer more than a decade before the disease develops. British researchers have confirmed a link between certain proteins in the blood and prostate cancer, drawing attention to the development of early diagnostic technology.
Clues to Cancer Risk Found in 12 Blood Proteins
Researchers at the University of Oxford have reported that 12 proteins in the blood are associated with prostate cancer, according to a recent report by the Daily Mail. Seven of them showed a link to particularly aggressive forms of the disease.
The researchers analyzed blood samples from 2,555 participants. Of those, 982 were later diagnosed with prostate cancer, while the remaining 1,573 did not develop cancer during the study period. After examining about 6,000 proteins in the blood and tracking the participants' health for roughly 16 years, the team found differences in protein composition depending on whether participants were later diagnosed with cancer.
Two proteins stood out: ANKRD1 and GZMK. ANKRD1 is known to be associated with cases in which cancer is more likely to spread to other organs. GZMK is produced by immune cells that identify and eliminate abnormal cells. Based on the presence of this protein, the researchers suggested that the immune system may have been responding to cancer cells years before a prostate cancer diagnosis was made.
The detection of a particular protein does not mean cancer was already present at that time. The researchers instead emphasized that these proteins could serve as biological markers to identify men at higher risk of developing prostate cancer. Further validation is needed before the findings can be developed into an actual predictive test.
Huang Zhe, a researcher at the University of Oxford's Nuffield Department of Population Health, said the team hopes the study will help in understanding the biological characteristics of aggressive prostate cancer and in finding markers that can more accurately assess risk in the future.
Top Cancer Among Korean Men, With High Survival Rates When Caught Early
One reason early diagnosis of prostate cancer is drawing attention is the rising number of patients in South Korea. According to the 2026 Prostate Cancer Fact Sheet released by the Korean Urological Oncology Society, there were 23,928 new prostate cancer patients in Korea in 2023. That is about 2.2 times the 11,095 recorded in 2014.
Prostate cancer accounted for 15.0% of all cancers among men, overtaking lung cancer at 14.5% and stomach cancer at 12.8% to become the most common cancer in Korean men. It ranked sixth among all cancers.
Risk rises with age. Cases are relatively rare among men in their 40s but increase from their 50s, with the rise becoming more pronounced after age 60. Compared with 2006, the crude incidence rate in 2023 rose 25.2% among men in their 50s, 51.0% among those in their 60s and 55.8% among those in their 70s.
The problem is that there are almost no clear symptoms in the early stages. Many patients visit a hospital only after experiencing urinary problems or pain. By contrast, when the cancer is found at an early stage while still confined to the prostate, the five-year survival rate is above 95%. That is why developing tests that can detect risk and diagnose the disease before symptoms appear is important.
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