Three New Testicular Cancer Risk Variants Found
June 13 2010 – A study led by The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) has identified three new genetic risk factors for testicular cancer.
The team scanned the genomes of almost 1,000 men with testicular cancer and almost 5,000 apparently unaffected individuals. They found genetic variants in three regions were significantly more common in the men with testicular cancer, and confirmed the results in a further 670 sufferers and 3,500 controls.
Men who have any of the new regions on chromosomes 5, 12 and 9 have an increased risk of testicular cancer. Within each region, the researchers pinpointed an interesting gene most likely to be involved in causing testicular cancer. The three genes are called TERT, ATF7IP and DMRT1.
TERT and ATF7IP are important in maintaining the correct length of the ends of chromosomes, which are called telomeres. Shortened telomeres are known to occur in many cancers and genetic variants in TERT have already been linked to other cancers, including lung, bladder, cervical, pancreatic, skin and prostate cancer. The third gene identified in this new study, DMRT1, is pivotal in sex determination and has been implicated in the development of testicular cancer in mice.
Study senior author Professor Nazneen Rahman, from the ICR, says: “The genes located in these regions give us clues to the mechanisms by which testicular cancer develops. In time this may allow us to develop new treatment options.”
The study, published in Nature Genetics, takes the number of genomic regions associated with testicular cancer risk to six, after the same team found the first three factors last year.
