Multiple newly identified loci associated with prostate cancer susceptibility

Abstract

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer affecting males in developed countries. It shows consistent evidence of familial aggregation, but the causes of this aggregation are mostly unknown. To identify common alleles associated with prostate cancer risk, we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) using blood DNA samples from 1,854 individuals with clinically detected prostate cancer diagnosed at ≤60 years or with a family history of disease, and 1,894 population-screened controls with a low prostate-specific antigen (PSA) concentration (P = 2.7 × 10⁻⁸ to P = 8.7 × 10⁻²⁹). We confirmed previous reports of common loci associated with prostate cancer at 8q24 and 17q. Moreover, we found that three of the newly identified loci contain candidate susceptibility genes: MSMB, LMTK2 and KLK3.