Mitochondrial DNA encodes small peptides (mitochondria-derived peptides (MDPs)), high serum levels of which have been associated with decreased risk of prostate cancer, but only in European American men (EAM). In a new study published in The Prostate, the association between MDP levels and prostate cancer diagnosis has been assessed in plasma samples from 198 men undergoing biopsy. High MDP levels were associated with reduced risk of low-grade and high-grade prostate cancer in EAM (all P < 0.005), but no association between MDP and prostate cancer risk was reported in African American men (AAM); moreover, healthy AAM had lower plasma MDP levels than healthy EAM. These results support a role of mitochondrial dysfunction in prostate cancer and might contribute to explain the known increased risk of prostate cancer observed in AAM.

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