Genetic mutations associated with increased PSA and prostate cancer
2010-12-04
(Press-News.org) Austrian researchers have uncovered mutations throughout the mitochondrial genome that are associated with prostate cancer. An exciting aspect of the study, published by Cell Press on December 2 in the American Journal of Human Genetics, is the association of tRNA mutations with elevated levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in Austrian men diagnosed with various stages of prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer is among the most prevalent cancers diagnosed in the United States and Europe. The most common and noninvasive way to detect prostate cancer is to check PSA levels. This is a routine part of men's health checks starting around the age of 50. Elevated PSA levels indicate the possibility of prostate cancer. Prostate biopsies are used for verification of PSA results and cancer diagnosis. Treatment may include surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy. "Identifying genetic variants associated with prostate cancer and its primary biomarker is an exciting accomplishment," says Dr. Anita Kloss-Brandstätter, the lead author of this study.
Recognizing the important role mtDNA mutations have been found to play in development and progression of many types of cancer, Dr. Kloss-Brandstätter and colleagues set out to sequence the entire mitochondrial genome in 30 prostate cancer patients. "The influence of mtDNA on the origin and progression of prostate cancer is still not understood, leaving much to be discovered," says Dr. Kloss-Brandstätter. The group used a high-quality sequencing approach to detect differences in mtDNA sequence between cancerous and noncancerous tissue from the same 30 men. "It is the first study targeting the entire mitochondrial genome in prostate cancer and benign tissue from the same patient with a superior sequencing strategy," notes Dr. Kloss-Brandstätter.
By examining both the frequency and types of somatic mtDNA mutations in prostate cancer patients, Dr. Kloss-Brandstätter and colleagues were able to identify several genetic changes having clinical significance. They suggest that, "sequencing of selected mitochondrial regions will likely result in a mutation spectrum useful for prognosis." Perhaps the most striking finding of the study is the association between somatic tRNA mutations and PSA levels at diagnosis. "Patients with a somatic tRNA mutation had a significantly higher PSA value at diagnosis than did patients without a somatic tRNA mutation," explains Dr. Kloss-Brandstätter. "These findings will potentially help others monitor malignant transformation, tumor progression, and metastasis," she says.
INFORMATION: END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2010-12-04
LA JOLLA, CA – November 30, 2010 – Scripps Research Institute scientists have made a significant leap forward in the drive to find a way to safely reprogram mature human cells and turn them into stem cells, which can then change into other cell types, such as nerve, heart, and liver cells. The ability to transform fully mature adult cells such as skin cells into stem cells has potentially profound implications for treating many diseases.
In research published in the December 3, 2010 issue of Cell Stem Cell, Scripps Research Associate Professor Sheng Ding, PhD, reports ...
2010-12-04
Coral reef ecosystems are one of the most diverse habitats on the planet, providing habitat for a wide variety of marine animals. Unfortunately, coral reefs and their associated fish, algae, and invertebrate species are in worldwide decline. In 2009, 83 rare corals were petitioned to be listed under the United States Endangered Species Act. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service is currently reviewing the status of the coral on the petition. If the listing is granted, it will afford higher protection and designate critical ...
2010-12-04
The increased availability and access of broadband around the world has meant a rise in global demand for online media services and this could have implications for a society that is living within environmental limits. New research has analysed the potential future demand for downloaded data worldwide, such as social networking sites and on-demand TV programs, and the resulting energy requirements.
Academics at Bristol University's Department of Computer Science have looked at the provision of media services to consumers, focusing on energy use in the infrastructure. ...
2010-12-04
CHAPEL HILL, NC – A team from UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center has uncovered a clue as to how certain common genetic variants may influence an individual's risk of developing cardiovascular diseases such as stroke or heart attack.
The team had been studying three related genes encoded by the INK4/ARF (or CDKN2a/b) locus which is closely associated with human aging. Previous genome-wide association studies (GWAS) from several large consortia have shown that common genetic variants located very near, but not actually in, these genes are associated with diseases ...
2010-12-04
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- A novel type of biomedical imaging, made possible by new advances in microscopy from scientists at Harvard University, is so fast and sensitive it can capture "video" of blood cells squeezing through capillaries.
Researchers led by Harvard's Brian G. Saar, Christian W. Freudiger, and X. Sunney Xie describe the work this week in the journal Science.
The new technique, based on stimulated Raman scattering (SRS), makes a complementary partner to MRI, widely used to capture static images of organs, tumors, and other large structures. For the first time, ...
2010-12-04
December 2, 2010, New York, New York—Premiums for employer-sponsored family health insurance increased an average of 41 percent across states from 2003 to 2009, more than three times faster than median incomes, according to a new Commonwealth Fund report. Yet, insurance is buying less. The report found that deductibles per person rose 77 percent, on average. Higher premiums plus higher out-of-pocket costs are putting working families' budgets under stress across the country.
The report, State Trends in Premiums and Deductibles, 2003�: How Building on the Affordable ...
2010-12-04
A dysfunction in the lining of blood vessels that is linked to cardiovascular illness also appears to play a role in the development of Alzheimer's disease, according to a study published in Circulation Research: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Alzheimer's disease is a progressive brain condition that typically affects people age 60 and older, depriving them of memory, reasoning and other cognitive skills. As many as 5 million Americans have Alzheimer's, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Two distinct anomalies in the brain are hallmarks of Alzheimer's: ...
2010-12-04
Healthy lifestyle choices and emergency room interventions can help prevent first-time strokes, according to revised American Heart Association/American Stroke Association guidelines.
The guidelines, last updated in 2006, will be published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.
"Between 1999 and 2006, there's been over a 30 percent reduction in stroke death rates in the United States and we think the majority of the reduction is coming from better prevention," said Larry B. Goldstein, M.D., chairman of the statement writing committee and director of the ...
2010-12-04
AMHERST, Mass. – University of Massachusetts Amherst microbiologists Derek Lovley, Zarath Summers and colleagues report in the Dec. 2 issue of Science that they have discovered a new cooperative behavior in anaerobic bacteria, known as interspecies electron transfer, that could have important implications for the global carbon cycle and bioenergy.
The scientists found that microorganisms of different species, in this case two Geobacter species, can form direct electrical connections and pass an electric current from one microbe to the other. By cooperating in this way ...
2010-12-04
The Earth has run out of room to expand fisheries, according to a new study led by University of British Columbia researchers that charts the systematic expansion of industrialized fisheries.
In collaboration with the National Geographic Society and published today in the online journal PLoS ONE, the study is the first to measure the spatial expansion of global fisheries. It reveals that fisheries expanded at a rate of one million sq. kilometres per year from the 1950s to the end of the 1970s. The rate of expansion more than tripled in the 1980s and early 1990s – to roughly ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Genetic mutations associated with increased PSA and prostate cancer
