Scientists have found clues in people’s DNA that might help explain why Black men get prostate cancer more often than men of other races. This important finding, made by scientists at the University of Essex, could lead to a test that shows who is most likely to get the disease. This test might help more men survive prostate cancer.Black men are two times more likely to get prostate cancer and 2.5 times more likely to die from it than white men.
Scientists think this might be because of differences in a protein called the androgen receptor, but they aren’t sure. One big problem is that most of the DNA databases scientists use to study these differences have DNA from white men. To fix this, the scientists in this study used a new way to look at DNA from over 75,000 people from different races all over the world.” We didn’t have much information about how often different mutations happen in different races. This could help explain why Black men get prostate cancer more often,” said Dr. Greg Brooke, one of the main scientists in the study.
The study, paid for by Prostate Cancer Research, is an important step in understanding why prostate cancer affects Black men more than others. It also shows how important it is to include people of different races in DNA research. This can help us better understand and fix health differences between races.
See: “Genetics may help explain Black men’s high prostate cancer risk, say scientists” by Linda Geddes on The Guardian website (February 15, 2024)
