17 janvier 2008

Gene combinations found to raise prostate cancer risk

Associated Press

January 17, 2008

Scientists have found that a combination of five gene variants sharply raises the risk of getting prostate cancer. Added to family history, the genes accounted for nearly half of all cases in a study of Swedish men.

The discovery is remarkable not just for the big portion of cases it might explain, but also because looking at combinations rather than single genes might help solve the mystery of many complex diseases such as cancer and diabetes that are thought to involve multiple genes or interactions between them.

"It gives us a new way of looking at genetic risk factors," said Dr. Teri Manolio of the National Human Genome Research Institute.

Unfortunately, the markers do not help doctors tell which cancers need treatment, only whether a man is likely to develop one.

This study should spur more research, particularly in African-Americans, who have a higher incidence of prostate cancer, said Dr. Howard Sandler, a cancer specialist at the University of Michigan and spokesman for the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

The study was led by doctors at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., and involved the Johns Hopkins University and the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. Results were published online yesterday by The New England Journal of Medicine.