Cancer Research UK funded scientists have found seven new sites in the human genome that are linked to men's risk of developing prostate cancer on CancerHelp UK" href="http://www.cancerhelp.org.uk/help/default.asp?page=2659" target=_blank>prostate cancer. Their findings are published in Nature Genetics today.
The scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research and University of Cambridge found one gene called MSMB which could possibly be used in screening for prostate cancer and disease monitoring. Another of the sites harbours a gene called LMTK2 which might be a target for new treatments. 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 per cent.
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.
Dr Ros Eeles, who led the study at The Institute of Cancer Research, said: "These exciting results will help us to more accurately calculate the risk of developing prostate cancer and may lead to the development of better targeted screening and treatment."
The team, collaborating with scientists in the UK and Australia, studied the differences in the genetic make up of over 10,000 men in total. They started by scanning the DNA of men who were thought to be at higher 'genetic risk' of prostate cancer because they had been diagnosed with the disease before the age of 61 (1,171 men) or had a family history of prostate cancer (683 men). They then compared these results with a control group of men who did not have the disease (1,894 men) but lived in similar areas.