One expert called the new finding a breakthrough but cautioned it will take more work to see how big a role the gene plays in the disease. Scientists have already implicated a few known genes in prostate cancer risk, and there appear to be at least a half-dozen more. But the new work is the first to start with families with a strong inherited predisposition to the disease and to identify the responsible gene. Some 198,100 American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year, and the disease will kill an estimated 31,500. Most cases appear to come from a genetic vulnerability plus some largely unknown environmental factors.
Most cases appear outside of the cancer-prone families.
Nobody knows how many genes can raise a man's susceptibility, though it appears that no single gene plays a big role in most prostate cancer cases. The newly found gene, called ELAC2, is reported in the February issue of the journal Nature Genetics by Cannon-Albright, scientists at Myriad Genetics Inc. of Salt Lake City, and others. Researchers found evidence that a mutated version of the gene raised prostate cancer risk in two of 33 families that showed an inherited predisposition. Other analysis suggested that certain variants of the gene may promote the disease in the general population as well, Cannon-Albright said. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania reported recently that two variants of the gene may roughly double the risk of prostate cancer.