A team of scientists says it has detected a
variant gene associated with prostate cancer, a finding that may make
possible a diagnostic test to help decide which patients are the best
candidates for aggressive treatment.
The discovery, by Decode Genetics, a
gene-finding company in Iceland, may also help explain why African-Americans,
in whom the variant is more common, have a greater incidence of the disease. Prostate
cancer is a common disease with many causes, both genetic and environmental.
Detection of the underlying genes is difficult because each seems to have only
a small effect on the risk of getting the disease. Several candidate genes have
been identified in one family or population but have generally not been
confirmed by researchers trying to replicate the finding in other populations.
The company plans to develop a diagnostic test,
based on the new variant, to help physicians decide how aggressively to treat
the disease, especially in men over 70, on the assumption that men who carry
the variant are more likely to develop serious cancer.
original Article:http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/08/health/menshealth/08prostate.html
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