First Testicular Cancer Risk Genes Found
31 May 2009 - Scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research have discovered the first inherited genetic risk factors for testicular cancer by comparing the genes of 730 men who had developed testicular cancer with the genes of healthy men.
They found many of the men who had suffered testicular cancer shared common DNA variants on chromosomes 5, 6 and 12 that the healthy men did not have, meaning that men who inherit any of these genetic variants are at a higher risk of developing testicular cancer than those who do not. Inheriting the strongest of the three factors increases men’s risk by two- to threefold, while inheriting all of them increases the risk by up to fourfold. This study is an important step towards developing a targeted screening programme for relatives of men who have had testicular cancer.
“We have known for some time that men whose father, brothers or sons had testicular cancer are much more likely to get it themselves and we have been searching for this genetic link,” one of the lead scientists, Dr Elizabeth Rapley from the ICR, says. “In this research, we have identified three genetic factors linked to an increased risk of testicular cancer. We believe there are more still to be found and we are working on identifying the rest.”
