Genetic testing can gauge prostate cancer risk

Genetic testing of DNA in a blood sample can determine which men are likely to develop prostate cancer, as five genetic variants previously associated with prostate cancer risk have a strong cumulative effect.

The study conducted by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, and reported in New England Journal of Medicine, NEJM.

Researchers found that a man with four of the five variants has an increased risk of 400 to 500 percent compared to men with none of the variants. The researchers then added a family history of prostate cancer to the equation – for a total of six risk factors. A man with at least five of the six factors had increased risk of more than 900 percent.

The scientists say each variant was independently associated with prostate cancer risk and that the variants are fairly common in the population. Together, these five variants and a family history accounted for almost half (46 percent) of prostate cancer patients. The study involved analyzing DNA samples from 2,893 men with prostate cancer and 1,781 healthy individuals of similar ages – all participants of a prostate cancer study in Sweden.

"This is significant and could affect clinical care," said senior researcher Jianfeng Xu, M.D., Dr. PH., professor of epidemiology and cancer biology. "The information could substantially improve physicians' ability to assess risk and determine the need for more aggressive screening or even a biopsy."

For example, the test may be especially useful in men with a family history of prostate cancer or those who have a marginally elevated PSA (prostate specific antigen), he said.

The study is also important because it is one of the first to illustrate how a combination of several genes can affect risk of disease.

Genetic testing of these five variants will soon be offered at a CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments)-certified laboratory at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Co-researchers include senior author Henrik Gronberg, M.D., Ph.D. professor at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, and William B. Isaacs, Ph.D, professor at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore, Md.


(Editor compiled and published Genetic testing can gauge prostate cancer risk at HealthNewsTrack on January 17, 2008 sourced from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center - http://www1.wfubmc.edu/News/NewsARticle.htm?ArticleID=2252)

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