Prostate Cancer - Information for Researchers and Medical Professionals
In the Center for Human Genomics, our prostate cancer research is focused on families with Hereditary Prostate Cancer. Our goal is to identify prostate cancer genes.
Aside from skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer found among American men. Over 40% of the variability in prostate cancer can be attributed to hereditary factors, which is higher than all other cancers, including breast cancer and colon cancer.
The Hereditary Prostate Cancer (HPC) Study of Wake Forest University School of Medicine is looking for families with three or more first-degree relatives who have prostate cancer. We are most actively seeking families with Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry, not because prostate cancer is more prevalent in this population, but because of reduced genetic heterogeneity.
If you encounter a striking family history of prostate cancer in your practice, feel free to contact Aubrey Turner, the study coordinator, at:
(336)713-7549 local
(866) 487-2344 toll free
aturner@wfubmc.edu email
Study Overview:
- We recruit families for linkage studies and family based association studies
- Travel to Wake Forest not required
- Participants complete questionnaires and donate a blood sample
- We cover all costs, including blood draw and shipping
- DNA test results not released
- The families you refer will be studied in conjunction with the largest HPC study in the nation
Additional Resources for you and your patient:
- HPC Screening questionaire: click here to download a printable (PDF). This can be given to you patient and returned to us, to help us decide whether the family meets our study criteria.
- Study descriptions: click here for detailed descriptions of our research studies with active recruitment.
- Hereditary Prostate Cancer Fact Sheet:
Principal Investigator: Dr. Jianfeng Xu
BG-01-171 and BG-00-373