Tutkimuskohteet

Prostate cancer (CaP) is the most common malignancy and the second most common cause of cancer related death among men in Finland (http://www.cancerregistry.fi/). In 2006, 4642 new cases were detected and in 2007, 792 men died of the disease. Despite extensive research efforts, molecular mechanisms of carcinogenesis and tumorigenesis of CaP are still quite poorly known. CaP is a very heterogeneous disease, where definitive risk factors include age, ethnic origin and family history.

In a large Scandinavian twin study, Lichtenstein et al. (2000), reported that the proband-wise concordance rate was 21.1% for monozygous twins and 6.4% for dizygous twins, and that ~40% of the risk of prostate cancer could be explained by heritable factors. This proportion was highest ever reported for a common malignancy.

Our studies are addressing the need to identify the causative genetic events leading to prostate cancer. We are doing genomic research, which is based on our nation-wide genetic epidemiological studies and unique material collected from the entirety of Finland. Together with the special advantages of the Finnish population, our existing data and novel methods, we aim to improve our understanding of prostate cancer biology. Most likely our results will impact also on diagnostics and therapeutics in the future.

Our goals include identification of rare, high-penetrant prostate cancer susceptibility genes important in the Finnish population as well as common polymorphisms that may have a major significance for the prostate cancer burden at population level