Mitochondrial DNA haplogroups and susceptibility to prostate cancer in a colombian population.

Prostate cancer (PC) is one of the most common cancers and the second leading cause of mortality from cancer in Colombian men. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups have been associated with the risk of PC. Several studies have demonstrated dramatic differences regarding the risk of PC among men from different ethnic backgrounds. The present study was aimed at assessing the relationship between mtDNA haplogroups and PC. The mitochondrial DNA hypervariable segment I (HSV-1) was sequenced in a population-based study covering 168 cases (CA) and 140 unrelated healthy individuals as a control group (CG). A total of 92 different mtDNA sequences were found in CA and 59 were found in the CG. According to the geographical origin attributed to each mtDNA haplogroup, 82% of the mtDNA sequences found in both groups were Native Americans (A, B, C, and D). The most frequent was A (41.1%CA-42.1%CG), followed by B (22.0%CA-21.4%CG), C (12.0%CA-11.4%CG), and D (6%CA-10.0%CG). A lower percentage of European haplogroups (U, H, K, J, M, T, and HV) were also found (13.1%CA-12.9%CG), likewise African haplogroups (L0, L1, L2, and L3) (6.5%CA-2.1%CG). There were no statistically significant differences between the distribution of mtDNA haplogroups in CA and the CG in this study.

Loss of uteroglobin expression in prostate cancer: relationship to advancing grade.

We have shown previously that the secretory protein uteroglobin (UG) is highly expressed in normal human prostate tissue but this expression is either lost or altered in human prostate cancer cell lines. Treatment of these cell lines with recombinant human UG inhibits their ability to invade human reconstituted basement membrane by up to 90%, implying that the loss of normal UG expression may be related to the invasive potential of prostate cancer. Because invasion represents a critical step in metastasis, the expression patterns of UG could provide a unique and relevant indicator of cancer progression. In this study, we present the immunohistochemical analyses of fresh frozen prostate tissues from surgical specimens taken from 50 patients. Eight slides per patient were analyzed for UG staining. Slides from 26 patients showed evidence of prostate cancer, whereas slides from the remaining 24 patients showed only benign glands. The results demonstrate UG immunoreactivity in normal prostate, benign prostatic hyperplasia, and prostatic atrophy; low but clearly positive expression in prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia; positive expression in cancerous glands of Gleason's pattern