Abstract for presentation at 11th International Congress of Human Genetics

Fine mapping of regions containing potential prostate cancer susceptibility genes in a large Tasmanian family

  • Briony Patterson, Menzies Research Institute, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 23, Hobart, 7001., Australia
  • J McKay, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France
  • J Stankovich, Menzies Research Institute, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 23, Hobart, 7001., Australia
  • S Quinn, Menzies Research Institute, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 23, Hobart, 7001., Australia
  • R Thomson, Menzies Research Institute, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 23, Hobart, 7001., Australia
  • L FitzGerald, Menzies Research Institute, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 23, Hobart, 7001., Australia
  • D Goldgar, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France
  • J Dickinson, Menzies Research Institute, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 23, Hobart, 7001., Australia

    • Prostate cancer incidence has been rising steadily and, with the exception of skin cancer, is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men in the Western world. While susceptibility genes for breast/ovarian and colorectal cancer have been identified by linkage analysis in affected families, success for prostate cancer has so far been limited. The isolated and homogeneous nature of the Tasmanian population provides a unique resource for identifying extended families with high incidence of prostate cancer in which susceptibility genes may be identified.
    PC-22 is a large Tasmanian family, consisting of two branches (linked by marriage), that covers 8 generations in which 37 patients have been diagnosed with prostate cancer. We have DNA samples for 15 affected individuals and 39 first-degree relatives.
    A genome wide scan using a 5K Illumina platform was performed on 12 individuals from PC-22, identifying 4 potential regions of linkage. Micro-satellite markers spanning these regions have confirmed the linkage observed in the SNP data for two of these regions. The region on chromosome 1 has been previously implicated in family based studies of prostate cancer(1), while that on chromosome 15 is novel.

    1.Camp et al., Prostate (2005) 65(4):356-374

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