Using an RT-PCR platform, detection of gene transcripts highly expressed in prostate tissue and expressed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from patients with mCRPC can provide a more reliable and robust prediction of poor overall survival than that of CTC enumeration in mCRPC. Disclosed is the identification of five genes, KLK3, KLK2, HOXB13, GHRL2 and FOXA1, the detection of two (2) or more transcripts of which predicts overall poor survival. The test is performed on blood samples that have been collected in collection tubes that stabilize intracellular RNA, require minimal on-site processing and can be easily stored and shipped for subsequent extraction of total RNA from whole blood for RT-PCR.
