clipped from: www.mail.com   
MARILYNN MARCHIONE

Scientists have taken a key step toward revealing the causes of prostate cancer, finding that a combination of five gene variants dramatically raises the risk of the disease. Added to family history, they accounted for nearly half of all cases in a study of Swedish men.

The discovery is remarkable not just for the big portion of cases it might explain, but also because this relatively new approach

looking at combos rather than single genes
may help solve the mystery of many complex diseases like cancer and diabetes that are thought to involve multiple genes or interactions between them.
"It gives us a new way of looking at
genetic risk factors," said Dr. Teri Manolio of the National Human Genome Research Institute, the federal agency focused on such work.

It also might lead to a blood test to predict who is likely to develop prostate cancer. These men could be closely monitored and perhaps offered hormone-blocking drugs like finasteride to try to prevent the disease.