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Today researchers report a newly identified genetic variation that is linked to higher incidence of prostate cancer in African American men. This study, which emphasizes the importance of characterizing genetic markers associated with prostate cancer in high-risk populations, is published online in Genome Research. Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men and, according to the American Cancer Society, will claim the lives of more than 27,000 men in the United States this year.

Higher blood volumes probably cause lower concentrations of prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, in obese prostate cancer patients, reports a study today, leading the authors to speculate that screening with PSA tests might miss some cancers in obese men. Most U.S. prostate cancers are diagnosed by a biopsy prompted by a high PSA, the researchers write in The Journal of the American Medical Association. "The ability to accurately detect prostate cancer can be compromised by any factor that decreases PSA concentrations," they write.

HANOVER, N.H. -- Rural, not urban, patients are better at seeking earlier treatment for colorectal and lung cancers, U.S. researchers reported. When examining national data on those two types of cancer, Dartmouth College researchers found urban patients tend to be diagnosed at a later stage than rural patients, the Hanover, N.H., institution said Tuesday in a news release.

The GPRC5A gene, which is under-expressed in human lung cancer cells, suppresses lung tumors in mouse models and could provide a key to attacking lung cancer in humans, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the Nov. 21 edition of The Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The study found that mice with both of their GPRC5A genes suppressed developed normally until their second year of life, when 76 percent developed precancerous lesions called adenomas in their lungs and another 17 percent developed malignancies called adenocarcinomas.