foodconsumer.org: Genetic Variant Linked to Deadly Prostate Cancer

Genetic Variant Linked to Deadly Prostate Cancer
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admin on 01/17/2010 13:55:00
 
Sunday Jan 17, 2010 (foodconsumer.org) -- For the first time, researchers at
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center have identified a genetic variant
associated with aggressive prostate cancer, according to a new study.
The findings of the study, which were published in the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Science last week, may become the basis for genetic testing
to screen cases of aggressive prostate cancer.
Jianfeng Xu, M.D., Dr. P.H., coauthor of the study, professor of epidemiology
and cancer biology said although genetic markers currently have limited clinical
applications, there is a potential to design a genetic panel test to predict
which men will have aggressive prostate cancer in the future.
Xu and colleagues analyzed genetic information from 4,849 men with aggressive
prostate cancer and 12,205 with the slow-growing disease to determine whether
the men with aggressive disease had any genetic variants in common.
As a result, a genetic variant rs4054823 was found associated with a 25 percent
higher risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer is diagnosed in about 200,000 men each year in the United States
and the disease and its complications kill about 30,000 annually in the country,
according to the National cancer Institute.
Prostate cancer symptoms include urinary problems, such as not being able to
pass urine, needing to urinate often, pain or burning sensation during
urination, difficulty having an erection, bloody urine or semen, frequent pain
in the lower back, hips or upper thighs.
Prostate cancer in most cases grows very slow.  Most patients are told to take
the watch-and-see approach.  Treatments for the disease include surgery,
radiation therapy, hormone therapy and chemotherapy.
Prostate cancer screening is not recommended for men older than 70; treatment at
that age is not likely to be beneficial.
Reporting by Jimmy Downs and editing by Rachel stockton