Department of Anatomic Pathology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio 44195, USA.
Prostate. 2011 Apr;71(5):489-97. doi: 10.1002/pros.21265. Epub 2010 Sep 28.
Prostate cancer (PCa) exhibits significant differences in prevalence and mortality among different ethnic groups. The underlying genetics is not well understood. TMPRSS2-ERG fusion is a common recurrent chromosomal aberration in PCa and is however not studied among different ethnic groups. We examined the prevalence and class of TMPRSS2-ERG gene fusion in PCa from Caucasian, African-American, and Japanese patients.
A tissue microarray of PCa from 42 Caucasians, 64 African-Americans, and 44 Japanese patients who underwent radical prostatectomies (RP) was studied for TMPRSS2-ERG fusion using a multicolor interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization assay for ERG gene break-apart.
TMPRSS2-ERG gene fusion was present in 50% (21/42) of Caucasians, 31.3% (20/64) of African-Americans, and 15.9% (7/44) of Japanese (P=0.003). The gene fusion through translocation, deletion, or both occurred in 61.9% (13/21), 38.1% (8/21), and 0% (0/21) in Caucasians, 20% (4/20), 60% (12/20), and 20% (4/20) in African-Americans, and 71.4% (5/7), 28.6% (2/7), and 0% (0/7) in Japanese patients (P=0.02). A multivariate analysis demonstrated that TMPRSS2-ERG gene fusion correlated with the ethnicity (P=0.03), marginally correlated with the pathologic stage (P=0.06), but not other clinicopathologic parameters, including age, preoperative PSA levels, and Gleason score.
The prevalence and class of TMPRSS2-ERG are significantly different in PCa of Caucasian, African-American, and Japanese patients. Future studies of the molecular pathways implicated in TMPRSS2-ERG gene fusion may shed light on the disparity in prevalence and mortality of PCa among different ethnic groups and help design better prevention and treatment strategies.
前列腺癌（PCa）在不同种族中的发病率和死亡率存在显著差异。其潜在的遗传学机制尚不清楚。TMPRSS2-ERG 融合是 PCa 中常见的染色体重排，但尚未在不同种族中进行研究。我们检测了来自白种人、非裔美国人和日本人的 PCa 中 TMPRSS2-ERG 基因融合的流行率和类型。
对 42 例白人、64 例非裔美国人和 44 例日本人接受根治性前列腺切除术（RP）的 PCa 组织微阵列进行了 TMPRSS2-ERG 融合研究，使用 ERG 基因断裂的多色间期荧光原位杂交检测 TMPRSS2-ERG 融合。
TMPRSS2-ERG 基因融合存在于 50%（21/42）的白种人、31.3%（20/64）的非裔美国人和 15.9%（7/44）的日本人中（P=0.003）。基因融合通过易位、缺失或两者兼有发生在 61.9%（13/21）、38.1%（8/21）和 0%（0/21）的白种人、20%（4/20）、60%（12/20）和 20%（4/20）的非裔美国人以及 71.4%（5/7）、28.6%（2/7）和 0%（0/7）的日本人中（P=0.02）。多变量分析表明，TMPRSS2-ERG 基因融合与种族有关（P=0.03），与病理分期有边缘相关性（P=0.06），但与其他临床病理参数，包括年龄、术前 PSA 水平和 Gleason 评分无关。
TMPRSS2-ERG 基因融合在白种人、非裔美国人和日本人的 PCa 中的流行率和类型存在显著差异。对 TMPRSS2-ERG 基因融合所涉及的分子途径的进一步研究可能有助于揭示不同种族间 PCa 发病率和死亡率的差异，并有助于制定更好的预防和治疗策略。
