User login
Credit: Rhoda Baer
New research indicates that loss of the Y chromosome in the peripheral blood may be associated with decreased survival—both higher mortality from cancer and a shorter life span in general.
Study investigators say their findings may explain why cancer incidence and mortality are both higher in men than in women, and why men have shorter average life spans than women.
Lars Forsberg, PhD, of Uppsala University in Sweden, and his colleagues recounted their findings in Nature Genetics.
The team analyzed blood samples from 1153 elderly men and found the most common genetic alteration was a loss of the Y chromosome in a proportion of leukocytes.
Further analyses revealed that loss of chromosome Y was associated with an increase in cancer diagnosis, cancer mortality, and all-cause mortality.
Specifically, the hazard ratio (HR) was 1.91 (P=0.010) for all-cause mortality and 3.29 (P=0.003) for cancer mortality. The HRs were 3.62 (P=0.003) for non-hematologic cancer mortality and 2.19 (P=0.450) for hematologic cancer mortality.
The HR for a diagnosis of any cancer was 2.47 (P=0.014). And the HR for diagnosis of a non-hematologic malignancy was 2.68 (P=0.008).
The investigators said these results suggest that chromosome Y is important in processes beyond sex determination.
“You have probably heard before that the Y chromosome is small, insignificant, and contains very little genetic information; this is not true,” said study author Jan Dumanski, PhD, of Uppsala University.
“Our results indicate that the Y chromosome has a role in tumor suppression, and they might explain why men get cancer more often than women. We believe that analyses of the Y chromosome could, in the future, become a useful general marker to predict the risk for men to develop cancer.”
Credit: Rhoda Baer
New research indicates that loss of the Y chromosome in the peripheral blood may be associated with decreased survival—both higher mortality from cancer and a shorter life span in general.
Study investigators say their findings may explain why cancer incidence and mortality are both higher in men than in women, and why men have shorter average life spans than women.
Lars Forsberg, PhD, of Uppsala University in Sweden, and his colleagues recounted their findings in Nature Genetics.
The team analyzed blood samples from 1153 elderly men and found the most common genetic alteration was a loss of the Y chromosome in a proportion of leukocytes.
Further analyses revealed that loss of chromosome Y was associated with an increase in cancer diagnosis, cancer mortality, and all-cause mortality.
Specifically, the hazard ratio (HR) was 1.91 (P=0.010) for all-cause mortality and 3.29 (P=0.003) for cancer mortality. The HRs were 3.62 (P=0.003) for non-hematologic cancer mortality and 2.19 (P=0.450) for hematologic cancer mortality.
The HR for a diagnosis of any cancer was 2.47 (P=0.014). And the HR for diagnosis of a non-hematologic malignancy was 2.68 (P=0.008).
The investigators said these results suggest that chromosome Y is important in processes beyond sex determination.
“You have probably heard before that the Y chromosome is small, insignificant, and contains very little genetic information; this is not true,” said study author Jan Dumanski, PhD, of Uppsala University.
“Our results indicate that the Y chromosome has a role in tumor suppression, and they might explain why men get cancer more often than women. We believe that analyses of the Y chromosome could, in the future, become a useful general marker to predict the risk for men to develop cancer.”
Credit: Rhoda Baer
New research indicates that loss of the Y chromosome in the peripheral blood may be associated with decreased survival—both higher mortality from cancer and a shorter life span in general.
Study investigators say their findings may explain why cancer incidence and mortality are both higher in men than in women, and why men have shorter average life spans than women.
Lars Forsberg, PhD, of Uppsala University in Sweden, and his colleagues recounted their findings in Nature Genetics.
The team analyzed blood samples from 1153 elderly men and found the most common genetic alteration was a loss of the Y chromosome in a proportion of leukocytes.
Further analyses revealed that loss of chromosome Y was associated with an increase in cancer diagnosis, cancer mortality, and all-cause mortality.
Specifically, the hazard ratio (HR) was 1.91 (P=0.010) for all-cause mortality and 3.29 (P=0.003) for cancer mortality. The HRs were 3.62 (P=0.003) for non-hematologic cancer mortality and 2.19 (P=0.450) for hematologic cancer mortality.
The HR for a diagnosis of any cancer was 2.47 (P=0.014). And the HR for diagnosis of a non-hematologic malignancy was 2.68 (P=0.008).
The investigators said these results suggest that chromosome Y is important in processes beyond sex determination.
“You have probably heard before that the Y chromosome is small, insignificant, and contains very little genetic information; this is not true,” said study author Jan Dumanski, PhD, of Uppsala University.
“Our results indicate that the Y chromosome has a role in tumor suppression, and they might explain why men get cancer more often than women. We believe that analyses of the Y chromosome could, in the future, become a useful general marker to predict the risk for men to develop cancer.”