A team of geneticists in the UK has located a mutant gene that increases the risk of a common type of testicular cancer by fifty fold. Testicular germ-cell cancer is the commonest cancer among young males in western Europe. The gene, TGCT1 , which men inherit from their mothers, has been located in a small region of the X chromosome, which contains at least 300 genes. The researchers hope to pinpoint the gene itself in the next 2-3 years so that men with the gene -- who have a high risk of developing testicular cancer -- can be screened. "If it is detected early, we can cure testicular cancer by 95 per cent," says Liz Rapley, a geneticist at the Institute of Cancer Research in Sutton, Surrey ( New Scientist , Vol 165, No 2224).
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