Cancer predisposition from genetic variation shows strong gender bias

September 21, 2009
Cancer predisposition from genetic variation shows strong gender bias

Enlarge

Peter Stambrook, PhD

(PhysOrg.com) -- Cancer predisposition resulting from the presence of a specific gene variant shows a strong gender bias, researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have demonstrated.

In addition, the research indicates that the risk for development of cancer in individuals harboring the can be further increased as a result of environmental exposure.

Peter Stambrook, PhD, a professor in the department of , biochemistry and microbiology, and colleagues report their findings this week in (PNAS). Co-authors include researchers from Wright State University and the Laboratory for Health Protection Research, National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, the Netherlands.

Stambrook says the gene CHEK2 is part of a response pathway that can have an impact on whether or not cancers develop. A CHEK2 variant, CHEK2*1100delC, is associated with increased risk of cancer.

"Women who carry this particular gene variant are predisposed to developing breast or ," says Stambrook, "while men have a higher risk of developing prostate cancer."

Stambrook's team has produced a mouse model in which the CHEK2 gene was replaced by the variant and found that the overwhelming majority of mice that developed cancer were female—about 80 percent, as opposed to slightly more than 15 percent for males. This contrasts sharply with the incidence of cancer in wild-type mice (those with the normal CHEK2 gene), in which male and female mice developed cancer to about the same extent but at a much lower frequency.

Stambrook says his team will be exploring possible reasons behind the difference, looking at hormonal involvement and possible interactions between the gene variant and estrogen receptors or estrogen itself.

By using a known carcinogen, dimethyl benzanthracene, the researchers also determined that mice that harbor the variant are more susceptible to an environmental challenge than those that don't. The compound was administered orally to female mice.

"When they delivered the compound, the lifespan of the mice was reduced significantly—they developed breast cancer as well as other types of cancers," Stambrook says. "In addition, the mice that harbored this variant were more susceptible—in other words, they developed tumors more quickly than wild-type mice."

Stambrook says that by learning more about the signaling pathway of the CHEK2 gene, researchers can explore ways to "rescue" it and identify potential therapeutic targets.

"It's an interesting gene," says Stambrook, "and there are a lot of interesting directions that this finding will take us."

Source: University of Cincinnati (news : web)


Rank not rated yet
Related Stories
Relevant PhysicsForums posts
  • Is Everyday Technology Killing Us?
    createdFeb 08, 2012
  • Exercise and weight loss
    createdFeb 08, 2012
  • Why do we have head aches? Our brains can't feel anything.
    createdFeb 07, 2012
  • "The end of diseases" by David Agus, interview from Daily Show with Jon Stewart
    createdFeb 04, 2012
  • Oncolytic adenovirus
    createdFeb 04, 2012
  • Nutrition label stuffs and diets
    createdFeb 02, 2012
  • More from Physics Forums - Medical Sciences

More news stories

Botox developer rues missing out on billions

Botox developer Alan Scott says he rues the day he handed over rights to the best-selling wrinkle-smoothing drug to a US company for just $4.5 million, saying he might have become a billionaire.

Medicine & Health / Medications

created 32 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Many lung cancer patients get radiation therapy that may not prolong their lives

A new study has found that many older lung cancer patients get treatments that may not help them live longer. Published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the findings suggest that p ...

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created 27 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Cancer rate 4 times higher in children with juvenile arthritis

New research reports that incident malignancy among children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is four times higher than in those without the disease. Findings now available in Arthritis & Rheumatism, a journal publis ...

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created 24 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Young adults allowed to stay on parents' health insurance have improved access to care

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found that laws permitting children to stay on their parents' health insurance through age 26 result in improved access to health care compared to states without those ...

Medicine & Health / Health

created 17 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Starve a virus, feed a cure? Findings show how some cells protect themselves against HIV

A protein that protects some of our immune cells from the most common and virulent form of HIV works by starving the virus of the molecular building blocks that it needs to replicate, according to research published online ...

Medicine & Health / Research

created 14 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast


Japan's Fukushima reactor may be reheating: operator

Temperature readings at one of the crippled Fukushima nuclear reactors have risen above Japan's stringent new safety standard but there was no immediate danger, its operator said Sunday.

Integrated pest management recommendations for the southern pine beetle

The southern pine beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann, is a chronic insect pest within pine forests in the southeastern United States. Under favorable environmental and host conditions, it is an agg ...

AT&T customers surprised by 'unlimited data' limit

(AP) -- Mike Trang likes to use his iPhone 4 as a GPS device, helping him get around in his job. Now and then, his younger cousins get ahold of it, and play some YouTube videos and games.

Australian women reject 'I love u' texts

Australian women may have embraced the digital era, but they prefer a face-to-face declaration of affection to an "I love u" text and find men addicted to their mobile phones a major turnoff.

Scientists discover molecular secrets of 2,000-year-old Chinese herbal remedy

For roughly two thousand years, Chinese herbalists have treated Malaria using a root extract, commonly known as Chang Shan, from a type of hydrangea that grows in Tibet and Nepal. More recent studies suggest that halofuginone, ...

New method to examine batteries -- MRI from the inside

There is an ever-increasing need for advanced batteries for portable electronics, such as phones, cameras, and music players, but also to power electric vehicles and to facilitate the distribution and storage of energy derived ...