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.