Genomic scan of 12 hereditary prostate cancer families having an occurrence of pancreas cancer.

Background: Prostate cancer is a genetically heterogeneous disease. Using the occurrence of other cancers in hereditary prostate cancer (HPC) families is a promising strategy for developing genetically homogeneous data sets that can enhance the ability to identify susceptibility loci using linkage analysis.

Methods: Twelve HPC families with the co-occurrence of adenocarcinoma of the pancreas were selected from the Prostate Cancer Genetic Research Study (PROGRESS). Non-parametric linkage analysis for a prostate/pancreas cancer susceptibility phenotype was performed using 441 genome-wide microsatellite markers.

Results: No statistically significant linkage signal was detected in this analysis. The strongest linkage signals, as measured by Kong and Cox LOD score (KC LOD), were observed on chromosomes 2q37.2-q37.3 (KC LOD = 1.01; P = 0.02) and 16q23.2 (KC LOC = 1.05; P = 0.01).

Conclusions: Despite the lack of statistically significant findings, four chromosomal regions, three of which (2q, 16q, 17q) were previously noted as harboring potential susceptibility loci, showed suggestive linkage results in this scan.