(Ivanhoe Newswire) – It is believed that there is a genetic component that predisposes some men to develop prostate cancer. Now, a new study identifies a gene that may be associated with aggressive prostate cancer.

Researchers at Wake University School of Medicine conducted the latest research along with investigators from Johns Hopkins Hospital. They looked at genetic changes to a single DNA base-pair that is known as SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms). Included in the research were 1,000 Swedish men with and without the disease. Then the SNPs that were most associated with prostate cancer underwent further study at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
 

Study authors say they found one SNP located in the DAB2IP gene is associated with aggressive prostate cancer in men of European and African American descent.

The authors write, “Our study is among the first to report the presence of a potentially important prostate cancer aggressiveness locus… However, we cannot rule out the possibility of false-positive association. This report is intended to stimulate the conduct of additional confirmation studies for a gene that has strong initial statistical support and biologic relevance as a tumor suppressor gene.”

In an accompanying editorial, Jer-Tsong Hseih, PhD of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and the first to identify this gene, says this study adds to the growing research that suggest that DAB2IP gene plays a role in the progression of prostate cancer.

SOURCE: Published online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute on Dec.10, 2007