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Public release date: 11 March 2010
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Study has discovered a genetic mutation in African-American men with family history of prostate cancer
A recent research study has discovered, for the first time, a genetic mutation in African-American men with a family
history of
prostate cancer who are at increased risk for the disease. Scientific reports linking inheritable androgen
receptor mutations in Caucasian
men diagnosed with prostate cancer are rare, and this is the first one that focuses on the African-American population.
Researchers discovered this genetic change by testing DNA extracted from white blood cells of African-American and
Caucasian men from Louisiana who had a proven medical history of
prostate cancer risk in their families. They found in the cell's androgen receptor (AR), a protein which interacts
and responds to male sex hormones. This protein is profoundly involved in prostate cancer formation and its progression
to an advanced metastatic, incurable stage.
According to study conclusions, this mutation increases the
risk factors of prostate cancer development and progression, in part by altering the receptor's DNA-binding
ability, and by regulating the activities of other genes and proteins involved in the growth and aggressive behavior
of tumors.
The study team hopes that this discovery will eventually lead to a simple genetic test for prostate cancer for
African-American men who are at high risk for developing the disease, allowing genetic counseling and earlier,
potentially life-saving prostate cancer treatment.
Funding for this research was provided by the National Institutes of Health's Center for Biomedical Excellence and
the Louisiana Cancer Research Consortium.
The study is available in the advance online publication of the Nature Publishing Group's Asian Journal of Andrology
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