USC scientists link variations in growth-factor gene to risk of
prostate cancer
January 18, 2006
Laptop Battery Two variations in the gene for insulin-like growth factor I
(IGF-1) are linked to an increased risk of prostate cancer,
according to research performed by scientists from the Keck School
of Medicine of the University of Southern California, the Broad
Institute of Harvard and MIT, and the University of Hawaii.
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Thinkpad "Our results suggest that inherited variation in IGF1 may play a
role in prostate cancer risk," write the researchers in a paper
published in the January 18, 2006, issue of the Journal of the
National Cancer Institute.
Wilson was a research scientist at Stanford Medical Center, where she conducted research in the field of gene regulation of cancers related to steroid hormone receptors.
Microsoft USC scientists on this research team included: Iona Cheng, who
was first author on the paper; Daniel Stram, Ph.D., professor of
preventive medicine at the Keck School and the USC/Norris
Comprehensive Cancer Center; Malcolm Pike, Ph.D., professor
preventive medicine at the Keck School and USC/Norris; and Keck
School of Medicine Dean Brian E. Henderson, M.D., who is also a
distinguished professor in preventive medicine and neurology and
the Kenneth T. Norris Jr. Chair in Cancer Prevention.
They also confirmed links between AMD susceptibility and variations in two other genes. Together, genetic variations in these three genes accounted for a large proportion of people's increased risk for AMD, the report found.
Laptop Computers Cheng and her colleagues were able to tease out the relevant
gene variations using data from the large Multiethnic Cohort study,
for which Henderson is co-principal investigator. This
population-based cohort study has collected data on more than
215,000 men and women from Los Angeles and Hawaii over the past
decade.
A high level of lycopene in the blood serum correlates to a lower risk of prostate cancer, according to new research published in the latest edition of the American Journal of Epidemiology. Researchers from the US National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, led by Dr Tara M. Vogt, focused on 437 men, some 209 of whom had prostate cancer. Vogt's team wanted to find conclusive evidence that the level of carotenoids such as lycopene found in the body were related to the incidence of prostate cancer, since earlier studies had given mixed results.
Laptop Computer From this cohort and information from cancer registries in
California and Hawaii, the scientists were able to identify 2320
men who had developed prostate cancer and match them with 2290 men
who did not have a prostate cancer diagnosis. This large
population, the study's authors noted, provided "substantial
[statistical] power to detect modest genetic effects."
The team discovered that men with the highest levels of serum lycopene had a 35 per cent lower risk of developing prostate cancer than those with the lowest levels. While they also found that intake of other carotenoids was linked to an increase in prostate cancer levels, none of the findings were statistically significant.
Desktop Computer The team knew that high circulating levels of IGF-1 had been
linked by previous studies to an increase in prostate cancer risk,
and so they focused on that gene and its single-nucleotide
polymorphisms (SNPs): tiny point variations in the DNA code for a
particular gene. What they found was that several SNPs across the
gene were linked to an increased risk of prostate cancer, and two
particular SNPs were identified that could account for the genetic
associations they observed. Ten percent of the prostate cancer
cases in this study could be explained by the variation in DNA
sequence of these two polymorphisms.
Notebooks Because of the ethnic diversity in the cohort's
population-included in the group are African Americans, Hawaiians,
Japanese Americans, Latinos and whites-the researchers were also
able to look at the risk associated with the two SNPs across the
five different ethnic groups. As it turned out, the increase in
risk was the same throughout all the sub-groups, "suggesting that
the inherited variation in IFG1 behaves similarly among ancestral
groups and shares an overall biologic effect," the researchers
observed.
Lenovo "Our study critically evaluates the possibility of false
positive results, and important issue faced by genetic association
studies, and provides strong support for the involvement of the IGF
pathway in the development of prostate cancer," Cheng noted. "By
identifying the mechanisms in which inherited differences in IGF1
influence disease, we will further advance our understanding of
prostate cancer biology and disease susceptibility."
Hard Drive University of Southern California
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