By KUNA
Washington : Scientists now believe a simple blood test can gauge the likelihood of prostate cancer by looking at five genetic markers as tell-tale markers in male DNA.
Researchers at Wake Forest University published their findings in the New England Journal of Medicine, on Thursday, which found that men with these genetic variants are 400 to 500 times more likely to develop prostate cancer. Men with at least five or six variants, including family history, are more than 900 percent at risk, compared to those without the variants.
“This is significant and could affect clinical care,” said head researcher, Jianfeng Xu, at the Wake Forest University. This is the first study to link the combination of genes can increase risk of disease.
The three main risk factors, age, race and family history are associated with increased risk. The strongest of these, family history, accounts for 10 percent of prostate cancer cases, researchers believe.
The scientists looked at DNA samples collected from an earlier study conducted in Sweden, which collected 2,893 prostate cancer patients and 1,781 healthy participants.
The five genetic variants- three on chromosome 8q24, one on chromosome 17q12 and one on 17q24.3, and a family history were found on 46 percent of prostate cancer patients, suggesting medical professionals need to look at the DNA to assess risk.
“Our finding provides an opportunity to supplement the well-established risk factors by looking at how many of these variants a man has inherited, said Xu.
“It may provide a much better weapon to guide clinicians”.
Scientists are now studying the human genome to find underlying common factors, such as diabetes or asthma, to associated men with these genetic variants in common.