New
Service for TodaysSeniorsNetwork.com
readers...roll mouse over, click on
highlighted links in stories to review items
from Amazon
Now, keep up to date
with daily feeds of newly posted stories
about America's Seniors...click on the box
to the left
Genetic Risk for
Prostate Cancer among Hispanics/Caucasians
Newswise — Genetic
differences may explain the greater risk for
prostate cancer among Caucasian men compared
with Hispanic men, which could help
clinicians predict who is more likely to
develop the disease, according to a paper
published in the May 15, 2008, issue of
Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the
American Association for Cancer Research.
Currently, the most
common method for assessing risk for
prostate cancer is the prostate specific
antigen test, but this method can identify
tumors that may not be a threat to the
health of a man and misses other tumors.
“Men typically have
this test after they turn 50 years old, and
it can spot a tumor that may not cause a
problem in a man’s lifetime if left
untreated.
"It
could be more likely that a man will die
from heart disease or some other ailment
before his prostate cancer would kill him.
"At this point, it is not possible to
accurately tell which tumors will be the
more aggressive ones with our current
screening tests. This mean that we may be
screening and treating some men
unnecessarily,” said Kathleen Torkko, Ph.D.,
an instructor in the Department of Pathology
at the University of Colorado Denver.
“The goal of research
like this is to better classify a disease so
we can move toward better management and
treatment.”
Prostate cancer is the
most commonly diagnosed non-skin cancer and
one of the 10 leading causes of death among
American men.
Compared with white
men, Hispanic men have higher rates of
cancer overall, but the rate of prostate
cancer among Hispanic men, falling just
above Asian Americans, is one of the lowest.
“This may be due to the
fact that we simply are not looking enough
because Hispanic men may not have access to
screening or could be reluctant to undergo
some of the screening procedures that are
becoming routine among Caucasian men,” said
Torkko.
Torkko and colleagues
observed 932 white men and 414 Hispanic men
from south Texas.
They analyzed blood
samples to establish the relationship
between the presence of genetic
polymorphisms and the risk for prostate
cancer.
Specifically, they observed
polymorphisms from the nuclear Vitamin D
receptor (CDX2 and FokI), which modulates
the actions of Vitamin D, and from
5α-reductase type II (V89L & A49T), which
converts testosterone to dihydrotestosterone,
a more potent form of the male hormone.
Among non-Hispanic
white men with V89L, FokI was associated
with a more than 50 percent increased risk
of prostate cancer. This effect was not seen
in Hispanic men.
Among Hispanic white men, CDX2 and V89L in
combination were linked with a more than
three-fold increase in prostate cancer.
However, this interaction was not seen in
Caucasian men.
Torkko said these
results help add a piece to the genetic
puzzle of risk and racial differences, but
will need to be confirmed by other studies,
in larger populations, before they are ready
for use in the clinic.
“Prostate cancer is not
likely caused by a few genes, but by
multiple genes from different pathways. This
study illustrates the importance of
examining multiple genes to understand
genetic risks for prostate cancer and
differences seen by ethnicity,” Torkko said.
“Going forward, we need
not only a better understanding of genetics
but a better understanding of race and
ethnicity. Studying disease by race is a
complex issue, and the public needs to
understand that we are trying to raise
biological, rather than social, questions.”
The mission of the
American Association for Cancer Research is
to prevent and cure cancer.
Founded in 1907, AACR
is the world’s oldest and largest
professional organization dedicated to
advancing cancer research. The membership
includes nearly 27,000 basic, translational
and clinical researchers; health care
professionals; and cancer survivors and
advocates in the United States and more than
70 other countries.
AACR marshals the
full spectrum of expertise from the cancer
community to accelerate progress in the
prevention, diagnosis and treatment of
cancer through high-quality scientific and
educational programs.
It funds innovative,
meritorious research grants. The AACR Annual
Meeting attracts more than 17,000
participants who share the latest
discoveries and developments in the field.
Special Conferences
throughout the year present novel data
across a wide variety of topics in cancer
research, treatment and patient care. AACR
publishes five major peer-reviewed journals:
Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research;
Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular
Cancer Research; and Cancer Epidemiology,
Biomarkers & Prevention.
Its most recent
publication and its sixth major journal,
Cancer Prevention Research, is dedicated
exclusively to cancer prevention, from
preclinical research to clinical trials.
The AACR also publishes
CR, a magazine for cancer survivors and
their families, patient advocates,
physicians and scientists. CR provides a
forum for sharing essential, evidence-based
information and perspectives on progress in
cancer research, survivorship and advocacy
...
...
...