Genome-wide association study of prostate cancer in men of African ancestry identifies a susceptibility locus at 17q21

Abstract

Christopher Haiman and colleagues report a genome-wide association study for prostate cancer in African-American males drawn from 11 epidemiological studies of prostate cancer, with replication including individuals of African ancestry from 10 additional studies worldwide. They identify a new susceptibility locus on chromosome 17q21, for which the risk allele shows a higher frequency in men of African ancestry than in other populations. This may explain some of the increased incidence of prostate cancer in men of African ancestry. In search of common risk alleles for prostate cancer that could contribute to high rates of the disease in men of African ancestry, we conducted a genome-wide association study, with 1,047,986 SNP markers examined in 3,425 African-Americans with prostate cancer (cases) and 3,290 African-American male controls. We followed up the most significant 17 new associations from stage 1 in 1,844 cases and 3,269 controls of African ancestry. We identified a new risk variant on chromosome 17q21 (rs7210100, odds ratio per allele = 1.51, P = 3.4 × 10−13). The frequency of the risk allele is ∼5% in men of African descent, whereas it is rare in other populations (<1%). Further studies are needed to investigate the biological contribution of this allele to prostate cancer risk. These findings emphasize the importance of conducting genome-wide association studies in diverse populations.