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We conducted a genome-wide SNP association study on prostate cancer on over 23,000 Icelanders, followed by a replication study including over 15,500 individuals from Europe and the United States. Two newly identified variants were shown to be associated with prostate cancer: rs5945572 on Xp11.22 and rs721048 on 2p15 (odds ratios (OR) = 1.23 and 1.15; P = 3.9 x 10(-13) and 7.7 x 10(-9), respectively). The 2p15 variant shows a significantly stronger association with more aggressive, rather than less aggressive, forms of the disease.

Objective: To determine the normal profile of bone turnover markers in childhood in order to enable evaluation of bone mineralization status in the healthy pediatric population and in the population at risk of osteoporosis., Patients and Methods: A population of 75 healthy children aged between 6 months and 14 years was studied. Levels of osteocalcin and C-terminal procollagen peptide type I, as markers of bone apposition, were determined in serum. Levels of hydroxyproline and pyridinoline, as markers of bone resorption, were determined in urine samples. Statistical analysis of the results was performed., Results: The highest levels of the four markers were obtained in the first 4 years of life. Markers of bone resorption showed a continuous statistically significant decrease until the age of 14 years (p < 0.05), whereas markers of bone apposition decreased slightly after the age of 4 years and then remained stable until the age of 14 years., Discussion: These findings are compatible with the presence of intense bone turnover in the first 4 years of life and with a predominance of the phenomenon of bone apposition throughout the first 14 years of life. Knowledge of the normal profile of these markers allows evaluation of bone mineralization status in the healthy pediatric population and in the population at risk of osteoporosis.

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia is a general term applied to several disorders caused by inherited recessive defects of cortisol synthesis. The most common form is 21-hydroxylase deficiency, accounting for 95% of cases. The classical forms have an incidence of one in 15,000 and the non-classical forms about one in 1,000. The classical or severe phenotype presents in the newborn period or early infancy with virilization and adrenal insufficiency, with or without salt-losing; the non-classical or mild phenotype presents in late childhood or early adulthood with signs of hyperandrogenism. This wide range of clinical expression is explained by genetic variation. Although there is a certain amount of genotype-phenotype correlation, discrepancies have been described. During the last 30 years there has been a substantial improvement in diagnosis and treatment of this disease, and patients with CAH now reach adulthood. Treatment of this condition is intended to reduce excessive corticotropin secretion and replace glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids as physiologically as possible. Clinical management is often complicated by periods of inadequately treated hyperandrogenism, iatrogenic hypercortisolism, or both. Long-term consequences in adult life may include short stature, obesity, diminished bone mass, gonadal dysfunction with low fertility rates and psychosexual dysfunction in females. New treatment approaches are under investigation, such as the use of anti-androgens, inhibitors of estrogen production and adrenalectomy for severely resistant cases.