MONDAY, Aug. 3 (HealthDay News) -- A variant of a gene initially identified through its overexpression in prostate cancers is also associated with bladder cancers, according to a study published online Aug. 2 in Nature Genetics.

Xifeng Wu, M.D., from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and colleagues performed a genome-wide association study of 969 patients with urinary bladder cancer and 957 healthy controls using 556,429 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). They then evaluated top SNPs in three additional U.S. populations and nine European populations, for a total of 6,667 cancer cases and 39,590 controls.

The researchers found that a missense variant of the prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA) gene with an altered start codon was strongly associated with bladder cancer (allelic odds ratio, 1.15). Further studies showed that the variant allele reduced the transcriptional activity of the PSCA promoter.

"Our data identify [this SNP] as a new bladder cancer susceptibility locus," Wu and colleagues conclude. "Future functional studies are warranted to delineate the physiological role of PSCA and the biological mechanisms underlying the association of [this SNP] in PSCA with bladder carcinogenesis."

Abstract
Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)