Search

Background: There is preliminary evidence linking physical activity to better prostate cancer outcomes, though the molecular mechanisms underlying this association are not clear., Methods: In a Seattle-based cohort of patients diagnosed with clinically localized prostate cancer and prospective follow-up for outcomes ( n = 1,354), we studied the association between self-reported vigorous physical activity and prostate cancer progression to a metastatic-lethal phenotype. A subset of patients had prostate cancer tissue samples available for investigating DNA methylation (Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip array) and exercise ( n = 524)., Results: Patients who had vigorous physical activity at least once per week during the year before diagnosis (∼79% of the cohort) were significantly less likely to progress to metastatic-lethal prostate cancer compared with those who had vigorous physical activity less frequently (adjusted hazard ratio = 0.63; P = 0.029). Among the subset of men who had radical prostatectomy as primary treatment and tumor tissue available, a differentially methylated region (DMR) was identified (family-wise error rate = 0.03, hypomethylated in the weekly exercise group), with 9 methylation probes located in the promoter region of CRACR2A . This gene encodes a calcium binding protein involved in innate immune response. The methylation level of the nine CpGs was inversely correlated with CRACR2A gene expression (average correlation coefficient = -0.35)., Conclusions: Vigorous physical activity before diagnosis is associated with epigenetic alterations of CRACR2A and prostate cancer metastatic-lethal progression., Impact: This analysis provides strong evidence for the association between vigorous physical activity and a less likelihood to develop metastatic-lethal progression, and a suggestive link between exercise and DNA methylation in the CRACRA2A gene., (©2018 American Association for Cancer Research.)

Background: Prostate cancer (PC) is the most frequently diagnosed non-skin malignancy in men in the Western world, yet few disease-associated mutations have been found. Recently, a low frequency recurring mutation in the HOXB13 gene was reported among both hereditary PC families and men from the general population., Materials and Methods: We determined the distribution and frequency of the G84E HOXB13 variant in 1,310 incipient PC cases and 1,259 age-mated controls from a population-based, case-control study of PC., Results: The G84E mutation was more frequent in cases than controls (1.3% vs. 0.4%, respectively), and men with the HOXB13 G84E variant had a 3.3-fold higher relative risk of PC compared with noncarriers (95% CI, 1.21-8.96). There was a stronger association between the G84E variant and PC among men with no first-degree relative with PC (OR, 4.04; 95% CI, 1.12-14.51) compared to men with a family history of PC (OR, 1.49; 95% CI, 0.30-7.50; P = 0.36 for interaction). We observed some evidence of higher risk estimates associated with the variant for men with higher versus lower Gleason score (OR, 4.13; 95% CI, 1.38-12.38 vs. OR, 2.71; 95% CI, 0.88-8.30), and advanced versus local stage (OR, 4.47; 95% CI, 1.28-15.57 vs. OR, 2.98; 95% CI, 1.04-8.49), however these differences were not statistically different., Conclusions: These results confirm the association of a rare HOXB13 mutation with PC in the general population and suggest that this variant may be associated with features of more aggressive disease., (Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Steroid hormones are important in the etiology and progression of prostate cancer, and expression of genes involved in hormone production may alter susceptibility. One such gene is CYP17, which encodes the cytochrome P450c17a enzyme responsible for the biosynthesis of testosterone. A T to C transition (A2 allele) in the 5' promoter region of the gene is hypothesized to increase the rate of gene transcription, increase androgen production, and thereby increase risk of prostate cancer. To test this hypothesis, germ-line DNA samples from a large population-based study of incident prostate cancer cases (n = 590) and controls (n = 538) of similar age without the disease were genotyped. The frequency of the A2 allele was similar in cases and controls. Compared with men with the A1/A1 genotype, the adjusted odds ratio was 0.81 for the A1/A2 and 0.87 for the A2/A2 genotype. Risk estimates did not vary substantially by age or race. However, stratification by family history of prostate cancer revealed that among white men with an affected first-degree relative, homozygotes for the A2 allele had a significant elevation in risk (odds ratio = 19.2; 95% confidence interval, 2.2-157.4) compared with men who were homozygous for the A1 allele (interaction P = 0.0005). These results suggest that the CYP17 A2/A2 genotype predicts susceptibility to prostate cancer in white men with a family history of the disease. It is also possible that CYP17 interacts with other genes that influence risk of familial prostate cancer.