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Breakthrough in prostate cancer

11/02/2008

Scientists have found seven new sites in the human genome that could help them more accurately predict the risk of prostate cancer.

The results are said to be the largest number of genetic risk factors found in one genome-wide cancer study to date.

Researchers say one of the genes, called MSMB, could possibly be used in screening for prostate cancer and disease monitoring.

Another of the seven sites has a gene called LMTK2 which the scientists believe could be a target for new treatments.

The findings, published in the journal Nature Genetics, suggest these newly-identified genetic alterations are present in over half of all prostate cancer cases and can increase a person's risk of the disease by up to 60 per cent.

Researchers at the Institute of Cancer Research and the University of Cambridge made the discoveries after studying the differences in the genetic make-up of over 10,000 men.

"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," said researcher Dr Ros Eeles.

Fellow study author Professor Doug Easton, director of Cancer Research UK's genetic epidemiology unit at the University of Cambridge, continued: "In comparison with other cancers such as breast and lung cancer, we understand little about how prostate cancer develops. These results will greatly improve our knowledge of this important disease."

Commenting on the discovery, Cancer Research UK chief executive Harpal Kumar said: "These results are a breakthrough in our efforts to understand men's susceptibility to prostate cancer.

"Thanks to the international collaboration of so many scientists, and this huge advance in technology, we can now trawl through the human genome to discover so much more about prostate cancer – the most common cancer to affect UK men."

He added: "We hope these findings will help us illuminate some of the main difficulties faced by doctors and researchers in diagnosing and treating prostate cancer, so in combination with other advances we can eventually beat it."