Genes give insight into prostate cancer

Feb 11 2008 by Audrey Barton, The Journal

SCIENTISTS have discovered genetic changes which greatly increase the risk of prostate cancer after a study involving North East men.

Researchers have found seven new sites in the human genome that are linked to men’s risk of developing prostate cancer.

The data suggests these newly identified genetic alterations are present in over half of all prostate cancer cases. They each increase a person’s risk of the disease by up to 60%.

There are probably many different factors that influence the development of prostate cancer, but particular combinations of genes are thought to play a major part.

These results represent the largest number of genetic risk factors found in one genome-wide cancer study to date.

Cancer Research UK’s Professor Craig Robson, Professor of Molecular Urology at Newcastle University, said: “The results of this study will provide an important step forward in our understanding of prostate cancer. Hundreds of men in the North East contributed to this research by providing blood samples from which DNA was extracted and analysed.”

The scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and University of Cambridge found one gene called MSMB which could possibly be used in screening for prostate cancer and disease monitoring.

Over 1,300 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in the North East every year.