On Oct. 19, 2006, the National Cancer Institute part of the National Institutes of Health, announced it had released new data from the Cancer Genetic Markers of Susceptibility (CGEMS) study on prostate cancer. This information could help identify genetic factors that influence the disease and will be integral to the discovery and development of new, targeted therapies. This was the first public release of a whole genome association study of cancer — such studies examine the entire genome, with no assumptions about which genetic alterations cause cancer.

Launched in February 2006, CGEMS is the largest comprehensive initiative to identify genetic risk factors for breast and prostate cancers, which are two of the most frequently diagnosed cancers in the United States. By finding genetic variations that differ in frequency between patient and control groups, researchers can identify the location of multiple inherited genes that increase or decrease the risk of prostate cancer.

The genetic samples of prostate cancer came from more than 1,100 men with the disease and 1,100 men who have not developed prostate cancer. The samples include more than 680 million individual genotypes, or genetic markers, including 310,000 genetic variants. Prostate cancer is the third-leading cause of cancer-related death in men. In 2006, there will be an estimated 234,460 new prostate cancer cases in the United States.