Recent studies report associations between genetic polymorphisms for the androgen (AR) and vitamin D receptors (VDR) and risk of prostate cancer. Where the data describing the extent and grade of disease were available, the associations were almost entirely accounted for by advanced or high grade cancers and were weak or non-existent for localized or low grade prostate cancer. We have recently demonstrated in our study population that younger African American Men (AAM) with clinically localized prostate cancer present with more advanced disease and have higher recurrence rates than American Caucasian men (ACM). Using a large database, tissue bank, and follow-up registry of ethnically diverse prostatectomy patients available at our institution, we propose: 1) to determine whether AR and VDR polymorphisms in normal tissue and mutations in tumor tissue are associated with advanced stage, individual staging factors (Gleason's score, invasion of seminal vesicles and lymph nodes, PSA levels at diagnosis), and the clinical progression of prostate cancer; 2) to examine whether these associations differ between ACM and AAM and the extent to which they explain the poorer prognosis of AAM.
