Thymosin Beta 15A (TMSb15A)

The use of the serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test permits early detection of human prostate cancer; however, early detection has not been accompanied by an improvement in determining which tumors may progress to the metastatic stage. The process of tumor metastasis is a multistage event involving local invasion and destruction of extracellular matrix; intravasation into blood vessels, lymphatics or other channels of transport; survival in the circulation; extravasation out of the vessels into the secondary site; and growth in the new location. Common to many components of the metastatic process is the requirement for tumor cell motility. A well-characterized series of cell lines that showed varying metastatic potential was developed from the Dunning rat prostate carcinoma. The molecule, named thymosin-beta-15 , was found to deregulate motility in prostate cells directly.