One in 3 Americans will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. Most of the tumors arise randomly in the population, though a small percent of individuals will have inherited a mutation that predisposes them to familial cancer. We are pursuing experiments aimed at the identification of a gene important in early cervical tumorigenesis located on 6p. This gene appears to be involved at the early stages of cervical transformation. We want to identify the diagnostic indicators that would determine which PAP smear neoplastic legions would progress towards carcinoma.
Family studies indicate a strong genetic component in the disease etiology.
A genome screen of 274 sib-pairs performed by our collaborators, Drs. Suarez and Catalona, identified 3 different locations of a prostate cancer predisposition gene. We are following up these positive signals with the aim of identifying one of the genes. We will then perform functional studies to determine the gene s function. The gene has been identified but does not have homology with any cloned gene and therefore its biochemical function is unknown.