Mutation May Raise Prostate Cancer Risk in African Americans

Prostate Cancer in African American Men

Researchers have identified a gene mutation that may increase the risk of prostate cancer up to three times in African-American men with a family history of the disease.

The study, by scientists at 13 research centers, found that mutations in a gene known as EphB2 occurred in 15 percent of African-American men with a strong family history of prostate cancer. The mutation was found in only 5 percent of African-American men with no family or personal history of the disease and in less than 2 percent of European-American men with no history of the disease.

Prostate cancer rates are extremely high in African-American men. They develop