deCODE ProCa™
Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed non-skin cancer in men in developed countries and the second leading cause of cancer death, after lung cancer, among men in the United States. It carries a lifetime risk of 16% and a mortality of 3% in the general population. The risk is generally higher for men of African-American heritage, for men with affected fathers and/or brothers, and for those with relatives diagnosed at younger ages. A family history of breast or ovarian cancer can also be a risk factor, as the diseases share a common genetic mutation.
Almost 95 percent of prostate cancers are adenocarcinomas, cancers originating in the prostate´s gland cells. Most prostate cancers grow very slowly, improving the chances of early detection, diagnosis, treatment and survivability. Early detection is the key to overcoming prostate cancer; the five-year survival rate among men whose prostate cancer is caught early is 100 percent.
The deCODE ProCa ™ test is a novel, non-invasive, DNA-based reference laboratory test for the first genetic risk factors ever found to confer risk for a common type of cancer in the general population. These markers are not dependent on a family history of prostate cancer – in fact, they are independent of family history and the genetic risk of the ProCa test multiples with the family risks mentioned above. All but one of the variants were discovered in Iceland and confirmed in several American and European ancestry cohorts but have also been confirmed in several other populations by independent research groups.
The deCODE ProCa™ test identifies eight known variants, three on chromosome 8 two on chromosome 17 one on chromosome 2 (in the 2p15 region), one on chromosome 11 and one on the X-chromosome (sex chromosome). Based on the presumption that these markers are independent of each other, and the individual risks therefore multiply, the various genotype combinations have associated relative risks in the range of 0.33to 17.6) compared to the general population risk. Combined, these 8 variants appear to account for about half of the cases of prostate cancer (sometimes termed population attributable risk). About 40% of the population has a genotype combination of the tested markers that have an increased relative risk (>1) over the general population and about 10% of the population has a genotype combinations that confer an average two-fold relative risk, and about 1% have relative risk above 3. One should be careful to apply extreme risk results to individuals since they are based on presumptions of a multiplicative model and are associated with genotype combinations that are extremely rare. Note that deCODE ProCa™ only measures these 8 validated genes. There are likely other genes that have not yet been discovered and there are other risk factors such as family history and ethnicity that need to be multiplied to this genetic risk to refine an individual’s risk.
The deCODE ProCa™ test is performed in deCODE’s CLIA-registered laboratory. The test can only be ordered by qualified physicians and medical practitioners. If you are an individual interested in deCODE Prostate Cancer™, you can continue reviewing this site, even download and print the test order forms and meet with your doctor to discuss the next steps.