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Recent screenings reveal DNA of deadly prostate cancers

11/29/11

Scientists recently found aggressive forms of prostate cancer, which could kill patients more quickly than other forms of the disease, by measuring active DNA.

In a recently released report in the Proceeding of the National Academy of Science, researchers revealed that screening for the associated genes could reveal these aggressive prostate cancer tumors sooner and possibly allow doctors to treat them with better care.

“We’ve begun the process of identifying genes which predispose poor outcomes,” said Arnold Levine, a study author and biologist at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. “It’s an early indication.”

The study used data compiled from 281 patients from Sweden who were recruited between 1977 and 1999. The researchers studied the subjects' age, whether they died from cancer and how long they survived, testing tumor tissue for genetic traits associated with prostate cancer. Screening for genes found that about 29 percent of patients who were used for the study had the especially aggressive cancerous tumors.

According to the National Cancer Institute, more than 240,800 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2011 and 33,700 will die from the disease.

Despite the number of fatalities, more than 2 million men in the United States count themselves as prostate cancer survivors, according to the American Cancer Society. Given the prevalence of prostate cancer and other diseases more common to older individuals, acquiring life insurance is a wise decision. 

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