Molecular Epidemiology and Susceptibility of Prostate Cancer

Epidemiologic studies provide important clues into the genetic and environmental factors that contribute to the ontology of prostate cancer. The Prostate Cancer Program is a member of the International Consortium for Prostate Cancer Genetics, a consortium of investigators from around the world, in order to pool resources in cases of prostate cancer that have a familial component. These studies should facilitate our understanding of the genetic and environmental factors that contribute to the origin of prostate cancer.

James Cerhan, M.D., Ph.D.; Michael Blute, M.D.; Daniel Schaid, Ph.D.; and Stephen Thibodeau, Ph.D.; demonstrated that two common chromosome 8q24 variants are associated with an increased risk for prostate cancer. Their results emphasize the importance of two polymorphic variants (rs1447295 and DG8S737) on chromosome 8 as risk factors for prostate cancer.

Drs. Cerhan, Schaid and Thibodeau, in collaboration with Kathleen Cooney, M.D., of the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center and William Isaacs, Ph.D.; of The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, identified a role of the Nijmegen breakage syndrome 1 gene in familial and sporadic prostate cancer. Their data suggest that mutations within NBS1, and in particular, 657del5, do not significantly contribute to the overall prostate cancer burden within the patient samples tested.