Genes may play role in risk assessment for prostate cancer among Hispanics and ...(ed blood samples to establish the relati...)

Date:5/14/2008

ed blood samples to establish the relationship between the presence of genetic polymorphisms and the risk for prostate cancer. Specifically, they observed polymorphisms from the nuclear Vitamin D receptor (CDX2 and FokI), which modulates the actions of Vitamin D, and from 5-reductase type II (V89L & A49T), which converts testosterone to dihydrotestosterone, a more potent form of the male hormone.

Among non-Hispanic white men with V89L, FokI was associated with a more than 50 percent increased risk of prostate cancer. This effect was not seen in Hispanic men. Among Hispanic white men, CDX2 and V89L in combination were linked with a more than three-fold increase in prostate cancer. However, this interaction was not seen in Caucasian men.

Torkko said these results help add a piece to the genetic puzzle of risk and racial differences, but will need to be confirmed by other studies, in larger populations, before they are ready for use in the clinic.

Prostate cancer is not likely caused by a few genes, but by multiple genes from different pathways. This study illustrates the importance of examining multiple genes to understand genetic risks for prostate cancer and differences seen by ethnicity, Torkko said. Going forward, we need not only a better understanding of genetics but a better understanding of race and ethnicity. Studying disease by race is a complex issue, and the public needs to understand that we are trying to raise biological, rather than social, questions.

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Contact: Jeremy Moore Jeremy.moore@aacr.org 267-646-0557 American Association for Cancer Research Source:Eurekalert

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