Genetic determinants for the racial disparities in the risk of prostate and testicular cancers

BACKGROUND: A worldwide higher incidence of prostate cancer and lower incidence of testicular cancer in men of African ancestry compared to European ancestry has been observed previously. However, underlying mechanisms accounting for these observations are largely unknown. METHODS: The current study analyzed previously reported SNPs associated with either prostate cancer or testicular cancer to examine whether the risk allele frequency could help us understand the observed incidence disparities in men of African ancestry and European ancestry. Both t-test and regression analysis were performed. RESULTS: Here we show that men of African ancestry are more likely to have risk alleles of prostate cancer and less likely to have risk alleles of testicular cancer compared to men of European ancestry. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that genetic factors may play an important role in the racial disparities in the risk of prostate and testicular cancers.