Prostate cancer is a significant disease in men, and a large number of individuals would benefit if
risk
factors that increase the susceptibility to develop prostate cancer could be established, which
could aid in the early detection of the disease which is crucial for successful treatment. The
first objective of this study was detection of allele frequencies of 12 Y-chromosome short tandem
repeat loci from Iraqian prostate cancer patients and normal control males. The second objective
was to evaluate the importance of these loci to develop prostate cancer. Blood samples were
collected from 70 patients unrelated males living in middle and south of Iraq. FTA® Technology was
utilized to extract DNA from blood collected on FTA™ paper. Post PCR amplification was detected by
using ABI Prism1 3130xl Genetic Analyzer 16-capillary array system, with POP-7™ Polymer and Data
Collection Software, Genemapper version 3.5 software. A higher incidence of disease was found among
males who had either allele 10 of DYS391 or allele 9 of DYS459. It is likely that Iraqi males who
belong to Y-lineages with either allele 10 or allele 9 are more susceptible to develop prostate
cancer, while those belonging to lineages with allele 17 of DYS456 and DYS19 are more resistant to
the disease. This study shows the influence of genetic elements on prostate cancer, and it seems
that DYS391 and DYS459 locus comprising with other loci have the potential to be used as a
screening method for prediction of susceptibility to prostate cancer in Iraqi population.