Germline BCL-2 sequence variants and inherited predisposition to prostate cancer.

Divison of Urology, Howard University Hospital, Washington, DC, USAApoptosis is an essential physiological process that regulates cellular proliferation. Here, weexplored the effect of DNA sequence variation within the BCL-2 gene on prostate cancersusceptibility in three clinical populations, consisting of 428 African Americans, 214 Jamaicans and218 European Americans. We observed a 70% reduced risk for prostate cancer among the EuropeanAmericans who had possessed two copies of a promoter variant 938C/A. Additionally, commonBCL-2 haplotypes appeared to influence prostate cancer risk; however, studies in larger data sets areneeded to confirm our findings. Our data suggest that inherited BCL-2 variants may be associatedwith a decrease in prostate cancer susceptibility.