New research shows that a test could be developed to detect men with an increased risk of having prostate cancer.
Scientists have found 23 new genetic variants that are linked with an increased risk prostate cancer, according to a study published in the journal Nature Genetics.
Researchers from The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR,) University of Cambridge and the University of Southern California studied the genetic information of 87,040 men from all over the world.
The study linked 100 common genetic variants to prostate cancer. They assessed the top 100 variants and identified 10% of men had a three times higher risk of developing prostate cancer than the population average.
The study for the first time combines populations with various ancestries including European, African, Japanese and Latino. Researchers found that out of the European men who were assessed for the 100 common variants, the 10% at highest risk are 2.9 times more likely than the average person to develop prostate cancer.
One out of seven men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime and it the second biggest cause of cancer death in American men. It is estimated that about 233,000 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed in the US in 2014, according to the American Cancer Society.
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