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Scientists have discovered the first ever genetic indication of prostate cancer after 20 years looking for one. Their study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Prostate cancer is the most common form of male cancer. 240,000 cases are diagnosed every year, and 32,000 men die of the disease every year. Because 10 to 15 percent of all cases are hereditary, it has been clear to researchers that a genetic link must exist.
The study isolated the 17q21-22 chromosome region in samples of 5100 young patients (94 families) with prostate cancer. Over 200 genes were sequenced and four families were found to carry identical mutations of the HOXV13 gene.
It is known that this gene is "crucial during fetal development of the prostate and the gland's function in later life."
1.4% of the tested group (72 patients) had the mutation. On the other hand, 0.07% of the control group of 1400 did.
Only 1 percent of the entire population is thought to exhibit this HOXV13 mutation but they have a 10 to 20 percent higher risk of developing prostate cancer before age 55. This is why this particular discovery is so exciting: anyone with the mutation will be sent for increased early screening, just as women with family histories of breast cancer are screened early for the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.
Two different mutations were found in the HOXV13 gene in families of African descent, but not enough test subjects were African-American, so further study is necessary. African-Americans are twice as likely to die from prostate cancer than are white Americans.
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