Is Prostate Cancer in Your DNA?

According to the American Cancer Society's website (www.cancer.org), "there is a set of common variations in human DNA that signal a higher risk for prostate cancer in men who carry them". When I read this I had to know more, especially since my husband's father died of prostate cancer.

The findings of three separate studies were published in the online edition of Nature Genetics. One study was done by researchers from the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and the Harvard Medical School in Boston, a second by a research partnership between the US National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society, and the third study was done by a group of scientists at deCODE Genetics Inc., an Icelandic biotech company.

The largest study was completed by USC/Harvard team, with a combined total of 26 researchers and the genetic tests of 7,500 men from all races and lifestyles. They found that the DNA variations "may be linked to as many as 68% of prostate cancer cases in African Americans, 60% in Japanese Americans, 46% in Latinos, 45% in native Hawaiians and 32% in whites", as stated in an article by ACS.

Now what exactly is the variation that we are talking about? The DNA variations that the researchers are finding are on chromosome 8, in a string of human DNA called the 8q24 region of some men, 8 variants to be exact.

Each variant was able to help predict the risk of prostate cancer with the strength of the prediction varying widely between 11% to 68%, depending on race and other individual factors. Six of the variants were newly discovered, while the other two confirmed earlier studies for this very link between DNA and prostate cancer. In fact, deCODE Genetics has been looking at chromosome 8 for prostate cancer markers for years.

So, what does this discovery mean for the future of prostate cancer? Well, deCODE Genetics is working on a genetic screening test for prostate cancer that they expect to release in early 2008. The findings of these studies could also offer valuable information into understanding the disease which could in turn speed up the discovery of new treatments.

"Building on this finding we may be able to identify men at highest risk for prostate cancer, diagnose the disease earlier, and hopefully prevent it all together," says John Niederhuber, MD, director of the National Cancer Institute.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in American men, other than skin cancer. In 2007 an estimated 218,890 men will be diagnosed with the disease and 27,050 will die from it. Currently there is a blood test that can often find the disease early, but the test isn't always accurate. The findings of these studies offer us a new perspective in the fight against prostate cancer. They also offer us hope that a new future is around the corner for those with the disease in their family history.

If prostate cancer is prevalent in your family, please discuss what you can do to prevent it with your doctor. Always keep in mind that the best prevention for any disease is a healthy diet and lots of exercise.