A STUDY ON GENETIC POLYMORPHISMS ASSOCIATED WITH PROSTATE CANCER RISK IN SOUTH INDIAN MEN

Abstract

Prostate cancer one of the most common form of cancer in males is a complex newlineheterogeneous disease exhibiting a spectrum of clinicopathologic presentations It is newlinethe fifth most common cancer in the world and the second most common cancer newlineamong men with substantial difference in prevalence in different ethnic groups 1 newlineInspite of the high incidence and mortality rates its etiology is poorly understood newlineNo single environmental or lifestyle factor has been consistently associated with the newlinerisk of prostate cancer Despite the absence of strong exogenous risk factors newlineendogenous genetic factors may partly explain the variation in risk between ethnic newlinegroups A better understanding of the role of various genegene and gene environment newlineinteractions will enable to establish the genesis of cancer and identify highrisk newlineindividuals Genetic risk factors include both high penetrance and low penetrance genes the newlineformer contributes to only 510 of prostate cancer risk whereas the latter in newlinecombination with environmental risk factors may attribute to a greater proportion of newlineprostate cancer risk 2 Thus the association of prostate cancer with the genetic status newlinecan result from two kinds of mechanisms First a genetic predisposition associated newlinewith high risk can explain hereditary prostate cancer in cases of an inherited mutation newlineinvolving the known hereditary predisposing loci Secondly the genetic mechanism newlineassociated with prostate cancer risk may result from genetic susceptibility via newlineindividual or ethnic polymorphisms Identification of susceptibility genes is important newlineespecially in cancers like the prostate which are known to be associated with lifestyle newlineand ethnicity The introductory chapter describes the epidemiology and heterogeneity of prostate newlinecancer The various risk factors have been elaborated with emphasis on the genetic newlinefactors Genetic variations reported in association with prostate cancer have been newlinereviewed newline newline