FREE ESSAY ON PROTEIN LINKED TO PROSTATE CANCER

PROTEIN LINKED TO PROSTATE CANCER

www.bcm.tmc.edu/baylormed
September, 2000
Gene Identified for Cardiomyopathy
The Director of the Heart Failure and Transplantation Unit at Texas Children's Hospital
and Baylor College of Medicine Professor of Pediatrics was extremely excited with the
news of a gene recently identified. Baylor College of Medicine researchers have
identified a new gene that is responsible for dilated cardiomyopathy. Cardiomyopathy is
the leading cause of heart failure in children and adults. It is a common heart muscle
disease. Baylor College of Medicine researchers believe they have found the part of the
heart at greatest risk for dilated cardiomyopathy. They hope to study this final common
pathway to possibly identify other genes that might cause the disease. 
www.bcm.tmc.edu/baylormed
September, 2000
Protein Linked to Prostate Cancer
Studies of prostate cancer samples from the same number of African-American and white
males were studied for a number of biomarkers associated with prostate cancer. African
American males are twice as likely as white males to have prostate cancer and die from
the cancer. Dr. Timothy Thompson a Professor of Urology, Radiology, and Molecular and
Cellular Biology at Baylor College of Medicine has been studying the problem and believes
there is a link. He believes his study findings show a two-fold difference in the
caveolin-1 found in African-American men with prostate cancer. He and his research group
have previously found a link between caveolin-1 and the spread of prostate cancer to
other parts of the body. Dr. Thompson is hoping that his research will lead to a
non-invasive procedure that will allow for prediction of where the cancer would spread.
This also could lead to a screening tool for African-American males and possibly all
males. Dr. Thompson is also hoping this research might lead to a drug to counteract the
protein. With this finding of a marker, it takes Dr. Thompson's research to a whole new
level of understanding prostate cancer. Dr. Thompson's research is funded through a grant
from the National Cancer Institute.