Gene linked to aggressive prostate cancer

African-American men are more prone to prostate cancer–and more likely to die of it–than are white men. Using genetic screens, researchers at Louisiana State University Medical Center in Shreveport have identified a gene more active in prostate tumors from African-Americans than in those from white men.

The gene, TIMP-1, encodes a so-called tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (a protein-slicing enzyme).