Association between two unlinked loci at 8q24 and prostate cancer risk among European Americans

Background: Recent studies have provided evidence of associations between genetic markers at human chromosome 8q24 and an increased risk of prostate cancer. We examined whether multiple independent risk variants exist in this region and whether the strength of observed associations differs as a function of disease aggressiveness. Methods: We evaluated associations between 18 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in a 1-Mb interval at 8q24 and the risk of prostate cancer among 1563 case patients (1017 of whom had high-grade [Gleason score ≥7] and/or non-organ-confined disease) and 576 control subjects of European American ancestry. Differences in genotype frequencies between case and control subjects were compared using logistic regression analysis, with adjustment for age, and the Wald chi-square test. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results: We identified multiple SNPs in a 50-kb region (referred to as locus 1) that are in linkage disequilibrium with a previously reported risk-associated SNP at 8q24, rs1447295, but were more strongly associated with prostate cancer risk in our study population. We also identified a novel susceptibility SNP, rs6983267, at a second locus (locus 2) that is approximately 70 kb centromeric of rs1447295 and in linkage equilibrium with, and independent of, locus 1. Risk alleles at locus 2 were common in our study population (minor allele frequency ∼50%, 25% homozygous for risk-associated allele). Analysis of the National Cancer Institute\u27s Cancer Genetic Markers of Susceptibility (CGEMS) prostate cancer association study database alone and in combination with our data provided further evidence for this second prostate cancer risk locus; in the combined analysis, the allele frequencies for rs6983267 differed statistically significantly between case patients and control subjects (P = 1.61 × 10-9). We also identified a third locus at 8q24, approximately 400 kb centromeric to locus 2, that was statistically significantly associated with prostate cancer risk in a combined analysis of our data and CGEMS study data (P = 6.8 × 10-4). A joint analysis of loci 1 and 2 indicated that 35% of the control subjects carried risk genotypes at one or both these loci; compared with men with the nonrisk genotype at both loci, men with risk genotypes at both loci had an odds ratio of prostate cancer of 2.68 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.62 to 4.43) and men with risk genotypes at either locus had an odds ratio of prostate cancer of 1.70 (95% CI = 1.39 to 2.07). Conclusions: Three loci at 8q24 are independent genetic risk factors for prostate cancer. © The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press

A Novel Role of Myosin VI in Human Prostate Cancer

Myosin VI is an actin motor that moves to the minus end of the polarized actin filament, a direction opposite to all other characterized myosins. Using expression microarrays, we identified myosin VI as one of the top genes that demonstrated cancer-specific overexpression in clinical prostate specimens. Protein expression of myosin VI was subsequently analyzed in arrayed prostate tissues from 240 patients. Notably, medium-grade prostate cancers demonstrated the most consistent cancer-specific myosin VI protein overexpression, whereas prostate cancers associated with more aggressive histological features continued to overexpress myosin VI but to a lesser extent. Myosin VI protein expression in cell lines positively correlated with the presence of androgen receptor. Small interference RNA-mediated myosin VI knockdown in the LNCaP human prostate cancer cell line resulted in impaired in vitro migration and soft-agar colony formation. Depletion of myosin VI expression was also accompanied by global gene expression changes reflective of attenuated tumorigenic potential, as marked by a nearly 10-fold induction of TXNIP (VDUP1), a tumor suppressor with decreased expression in prostate cancer specimens. These results support that myosin VI is critical in maintaining the malignant properties of the majority of human prostate cancers diagnosed today