Incidence Rate of Congenital DNA Polymorphism of Genes of Testosterone Synthesis Pathways in a Population of Czech Patients with Prostate Cancer
Abstract
Aim: Prostate cell growth is dependent upon the level of active testosterone which, even at low levels, is a significant tumour promoter. Thus, monitoring the activity of the genes involved in the regulation of testosterone synthesis is of relevance for investigating the mechanism of prostate tumour cell origin and proliferation.
The main goal of the present study was to determine the incidence rates of the most significant single nucleotide polymorphisms of genes of testosterone synthesis pathways in a population of Czech patients with prostate cancer. Methods: The study included a total of 237 patients with prostate cancer and 229 controls with a clinically confirmed diagnosis of benign hyperplasia.
Each person underwent an examination of a set of 30 single nucleotide polymorphisms from DNA obtained from peripheral lymphocytes. Results: The incidence rates obtained on polymorphic alleles did not differ significantly in most markers between the group of cancer patients and the group of patients with benign hyperplasia.
However, a promising result is the identification of the SR-49B marker (dbSNP ID rs4952219) in the SRD5A2 gene in which a statistically significant difference of the ratios of individual alleles as well as of individual genotypes was found when the two patient groups were compared. Discussion: The SR-49B polymorphism has the potential to predict a congenital predisposition for developing prostate cancer.
No such association was detected in any of the other markers observed