USC research determines apparent genetic link to prostate cancer in African American men
Genome study
Some men of African descent may have a higher genetic risk of developing prostate cancer, according to research conducted at the Keck School of Medicine.
The genome-wide association study, published in the journal Nature Genetics on May 22, determined a marker of risk for prostate cancer in men of African descent, who tend to more susceptible to prostate cancer than men of non-African descent. The research team was led by Christopher Haiman at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and Hospital, part of the Keck School.
“This is a novel risk locus for prostate cancer, and the first study of its kind conducted in men of African ancestry,” said Haiman, associate professor in the Keck School Department of Preventive Medicine. “We have been trying to figure out why African American men have a greater risk for prostate cancer. These findings may help us better understand if there is a genetic contribution to disparities in risk for this common cancer.”
The research looked at common risk alleles for prostate cancer in men of African descent to determine a possible reason for the high incidence of prostate cancer in this population. The research focused on approximately one million single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers across the genome of 3,425 African American men with prostate cancer and 3,290 African American male controls. The research turned up a novel risk variant on chromosome 17q21. The frequency of this marker is 5 percent in men of African ancestry but is rare in other populations.
The discovery builds on findings several years ago by Haiman’s team of a risk region on chromosome 8q24, which also contains clues as to why more men in this population are likely to develop prostate cancer.
The findings support the need for additional genome-wide investigations to locate risk markers that are common or rare, which may play a role in racial and ethnic disease disparities, Haiman said.
The research is part of the Multiethnic Cohort study (MEC), conducted between the Keck School and the University of Hawaii, and funded by the National Cancer Institute.
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The United States Preventive Services Task Force has issued its final recommendation for early detection of prostate cancer, effectively eliminating the PSA test and leaving American men without a defense in the fight against prostate cancer, according to Skip Lockwood, CEO of Zero—The Project to End Prostate Cancer.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Hollywood movies directed by African Americans are significantly more likely to include African American characters with speaking roles than movies not directed by African Americans, according to a report released today from USC Annenberg.
Ralph Basui Watkins, Ph.D., associate professor and dean of African American Church Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary, is a minister at the First A.M.E. Church in Los Angeles. An unconventional preacher, he has taken excursions to Africa to seek out the truth about the religion he has followed so closely all of his life. When he began to investigate African spirituality and the roots of biblical texts, his discovery changed his perspective.
LOS ANGELES - A cancer researcher at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles was awarded a $2.5 million grant to develop new treatments for leukemia in children.
Dr. Fatih Uckun of the CHLA's Saban Research Institute received the grant from the National Cancer Institute for development of drugs used to fight acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common form of cancer in children and adolescents, according to hospital spokeswoman Ellin Kavanagh.
Uckun and his colleagues focus on medicines that specifically target leukemia cells.
Actress Angelina Jolie announced in a New York Times op-ed article on Tuesday that she underwent a preventive double mastectomy after learning that she carries a mutation of the BRCA1 gene, which sharply increases her risk of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer.
