Photo by Todd McNaught Center researchers have zeroed in on the
neighborhood of a new gene associated with an inherited form of
prostate cancer. In an analysis of 36 families in which prostate
cancer was prevalent, scientists found that relatives with the
disease shared similar DNA sequence patterns on a portion of one
of their chromosomes. Determining the general region of a
chromosome linked to the inheritance of increased cancer risk is
the first step toward pinpointing an actual cancer-
susceptibility gene. Finding a gene could lead to a genetic test
to identify men who are more likely than the general population
to develop prostate cancer. In addition to laying the groundwork
for the discovery of a new prostate-cancer susceptibility gene,
the achievement is significant because numerous previous
attempts to find such genes have produced few conclusive
results. To increase their likelihood of success, the
researchers focused their analysis exclusively on Ashkenazi
Jewish families, a group that tends to be m