On Feb. 10, 2008, National Cancer Institute (NCI) researchers reported that a set of genetic variations in at least four regions of DNA strongly predicts prostate cancer risk and that these variations may be responsible for a large number of prostate cancer cases in white men in the United States.

Researchers scanned the entire human genome to identify common, inherited gene variations that increase the risks for breast and prostate cancers.  In 2007, there were an estimated 219,000 new prostate cancer cases and an estimated 27,000 deaths in the U.S.