"The significance of the study is that we found mutations in the gene that predispose [men] who have these mutations to suffer from prostate cancer," says lead study author Sudhir Sahasrabudhe, PhD, executive vice-president of research and development for Myriad Genetics in Salt Lake City. "What we did was look for this particular gene, ELAC2, in families that had histories of prostate cancer, and we followed the patients to see who either had prostate cancer or did not. And we found a strong correlation between the mutation in the ELAC2 gene and prostate cancer."

Sahasrabudhe says the results of the study are being used to develop a commercial blood test. "We will have this [test] and other markers that together will be indicative of risk for prostate cancer," he says. Other gene-based biomarkers have already been developed that help indicate the risk of prostate cancer as well, Sahasrabudhe says.

"ELAC2 will be one of the components in the test, but will not be the only component," he says. "There will be at least a few other genes that we will also examine so we can actually give the patient some comprehensive coverage of risk in terms of genetic predisposition for prostate cancer."

Men who are candidates for the new test will be those who have a history of prostate cancer in a first-degree relative such as a parent or sibling. Males can be tested as early as age one, but Sahasrabudhe says it probably will be used in men who are in their 20s or 30s, because prostate cancer typically does not occur until middle age or later.

Kenneth J. Pienta, MD, professor of internal medicine and surgery at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, says the results of the study may not apply to men of all ethnic groups. The study took place in Utah, where most residents are of Northern European descent.

"The Utah population is a fairly genetically homogenous population," he says. "You don?t know if this will apply, for example, to African Americans."

Pienta says the findings mean that in the future, men can be tested to determine if they carry the ELAC2 gene for prostate cancer, much the same way women can be tested for the BRCA1 gene to determine their risk for breast cancer.

"It?s an important finding," says Pienta. "This is not clinically useful for awhile yet, but it will help us understand some of the biology of prostate cancer, and may eventually be important in prostate cancer screening and treatment."

The ACS current guidelines recommend that men at high risk for prostate cancer (African Americans and those with a brother or father diagnosed with prostate cancer at a young age) should go for PSA (prostate specific antigen) testing and a digital rectal exam once a year, starting at age 45.