Description: WEDNESDAY, Aug. 15 (HealthDay News) -- For the first time, scientists say they have identified an immune molecule that may predict prostate cancer recurrence after surgery.

"We discovered a protein that shows up in prostate cancer cells, and this protein is thought to be involved in shutting down immune responses in the body," said lead researcher Dr. Eugene D. Kwon of the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minn.

The molecule, called B7-H3, is found on the surface of prostate cancer cells, and it kills or paralyzes immune cells that are attacking cancer cells, Kwon explained.

"The most aggressive tumor cells have the highest levels of this protein," he said. "The other surprising finding was that when we examined 338 men who had had radical prostatectomy and then followed those patients, we found that the patients who had the highest levels of this protein were at highest risk of having recurrence of their prostate cancer."

The report appears in the Aug. 15 issue of Cancer Research