The project, "Cladistic Association Analysis of Genetic Effects on Prostate Cancer in African Americans," addresses an area of significant human molecular genetic research: the assessment and interpretation of genetic variation and its contribution to susceptibility and progression of prostate cancer in African American men. The main focus will be on inherited predisposition to the disease. The work is geared toward the African American population, for which genomic studies are limited, even though the African American community has the highest incidence and mortality of prostate cancer, as well as many other diseases, in the U.S. The goals of the project are to formally evaluate if specific DNA changes in several genes are associated with prostate cancer by examining DNA markers in 2,000 African American and European American men. The research design is novel and incorporates historical information in the analysis of genetic effects. First, the evolutionary relationships of polymorphic segments of DNA will be constructed. Then, a series of statistical tests nested according to the evolutionary relationship will be performed. This project will determine, using a fully objective association design, if differences among genes contribute to variation in susceptibility to prostate cancer. |
