Is Prostate Cancer Genetic?

Prostate cancer is a disease that effects the prostate gland, which is located in the male reproductive system. When a patient develops prostate cancer, cells in the prostate gland mutate and spread, effecting the body's normal function. Symptoms can be painful, and if left untreated the cancer can spread to other parts of the body and ultimately prove fatal. Like all forms of cancer, prostate cancer may have a genetic link.

Racial Factors

• A study conducted in 1977 by the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyons, France, showed that prostate cancer has a slightly higher incidence in Chinese, German, Israeli, Jamaican, Swedish and Ugandan men. Studies have shown that, among these nationalities, prostate cancer affects approximately 30 percent of men in their 50s and 80 percent of men in their 70s.

Family Inheritance

• A study published in 2000 by the New England Journal of Medicine indicated that identical twins who were sons of men who already suffered from prostate cancer were both more likely to develop prostate cancer themselves than the sons of men who did not develop the disease.

Genetic Markers

• In a study published by the New England Journal of medicine in 1997, researchers discovered that people who have two specific genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, are more likely to develop prostate cancer. In women, these two genes have been linked to a higer rate of breast and ovarian cancer.

Combinations Of Genes

• In 2008, scientists at scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research and University of Cambridge who were studying the genetic makeup of men with prostate cancer discovered that some combinations of genes can lead to a higher risk of developing the cancer.

Significance

• These discoveries provide new hope for reducing the incidence of prostate cancer in men. If genetic factors can be identified early in a patient's life, then the chances of detecting and treating prostate cancer early in the disease's development are greatly improved.