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Does Prostate Cancer Run In Families

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What To Do If You’re Worried

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Speak to a GP if cancer runs in your family and you’re worried you may get it too. They may refer you to a local genetics service for an NHS genetic test, which will tell you if you have inherited one of the cancer risk genes.

This type of testing is known as predictive genetic testing. It’s “predictive” because a positive result means you have a greatly increased risk of developing cancer. It does not mean you have cancer or are definitely going to develop it.

You may be eligible for this NHS test if the faulty gene has already been identified in one of your relatives, or if there is a strong family history of cancer in your family.

Does Breast Or Ovarian Cancer Run In Your Family

If you have close relatives with breast or ovarian cancer, you may be at higher risk for developing these diseases. Does your family health history put you at higher risk? Would you benefit from cancer genetic counseling and testing?

Each year, over 250,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with breast cancer and about about 20,000 are diagnosed with ovarian cancer. About 3% of breast cancers and 10% of ovarian cancers result from inherited mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes that are passed on in families. Inherited mutations in other genes can also cause breast and ovarian cancer, but BRCA1 and BRCA2 are the genes most commonly affected. Although breast cancer is much more common in women, men with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations are more likely to get breast cancer than other men. BRCA mutations also increase the likelihood of getting pancreatic cancer and, in men, high grade prostate cancer. Knowing your family health history can help you find out if you could be more likely to develop breast, ovarian, and other cancers. If so, you can take steps to prevent cancer or to detect it earlier when it may be more treatable.

Imperfect Prostate Cancer Screenings

Screening for prostate cancer is done with a prostate-specific antigen test. The test is a bit unreliable as it sometimes misses seeing cancer. Other times it can find something questionable and it turns out to be nothing.

The advantages of the screening is reducing deaths, but there can also be harm done from unnecessary treatment.

Complications from treatments for prostate cancer can include urinary and bowel issues plus sexual side effects. Unfortunately there are no tests that tell you if the cancer is slow growing or aggressive.

Ask Dr. Miguel Mercado about your personal risk factors and consider whether screening for prostate cancer is right for you.

If you are concerned that several family members had prostate cancer, or because someone was diagnosed at an early age, contact Dr. Miguel Mercado at 351-5174 to help you manage and risks.

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Should I Get My Prostate Removed If My Father Had Prostate Cancer

With more and more women choosing to undergo preventive mastectomy, many men are now wondering if they should have a prostatectomy to reduce their risk of developing prostate cancer. This question is most common among men with a strong family history of prostate cancer and/or a known BRCA/BRCA2 gene. There are several considerations when it comes to preventive prostatectomy, such as the potential side effects of prostatectomy, which include urinary incontinence, erectile dysfunction, and others.

If you have questions about removing your healthy prostate, dont hesitate to ask Dr. Kasraeian, who will take ample time to listen to all of your concerns and discuss your options at length.

In the meantime, patients should continue regular PSA tests and digital rectal exams , eat a balanced diet and live a healthy, active lifestyle to discourage the development of prostate cancer.

Sensitivity Analysis: Psa Screened Population

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Of the full cohort, 21,886 participants reported prior PSA testing on the 1996 questionnaire. These men were included in a sensitivity analysis to further assess whether PSA screening influenced our results. During 149,186 person-years of follow-up, 2,860 total and 216 lethal cases were diagnosed. The associations between familial breast or prostate cancer and prostate cancer risk were quite similar to the full cohort analysis . If anything, the association between a positive family history of both breast and prostate cancer and lethal disease was stronger .

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Sensitivity Analysis And Publication Bias

A sensitivity analysis was conducted for prostate cancer risk by excluding individual studies each time, and the results showed no individual study influenced the overall RRs , indicating the results of this meta-analysis are relatively stable. Some publication bias for the history of breast cancer in sisters only was observed in the results based on Eggers tests and funnel plots . No publication bias was observed based on visual inspection of funnel plots or Beggs and Eggers test for history of female breast cancer in first-degree relatives and mothers only .

Fig. 5

Sensitivity analysis diagrams for each study used to assess the association between family history of female breast cancer and prostate cancer risk.

Fig. 6

Funnel plots of the studies assessing the association between family history of female breast cancer and prostate cancer risk.

How Common Is It

Prostate cancer is the commonest cancer in men in the UK, with over 30,000 new cases diagnosed each year. In Scotland nearly 2,000 men are affected each year, with 200 each year in Grampian. The incidence is rising, and the lifetime risk for men developing prostate cancer is 1 in 10. However, most prostate tumours are slow-growing and may not need treatment. Others grow quickly and eventually spread to other parts of the body.

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Hereditary Prostate Cancer: What Every Man Should Know

On a typical day, an average of nearly 480 men in the U.S. are newly diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Most men facing this cancer dont have a family history of the disease. Still, a family history does raise the risk of prostate cancer. For example, having a father or brother with prostate cancer more than doubles a mans chance of developing it too. That risk escalates for men with several affected relatives, especially if they were young when cancer struck.

Risk And Other Prostate Conditions

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A common misconception is that the presence of non-cancerous conditions of the prostate will increase the risk of prostate cancer.

While these conditions can cause symptoms similar to those of prostate cancer and should be evaluated by a physician, there is no evidence to suggest that having either of the following conditions will increase a mans risk for developing prostate cancer.

Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia is a non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate. Because the urethra runs directly through the prostate, enlargement of the prostate in BPH squeezes the urethra, making it difficult and often painful for men to urinate. Learn more about BPH.

Prostatitis, an infection in the prostate, is the most common cause of urinary tract infections in men. Most treatment strategies are designed to relieve the symptoms of prostatitis, which include fever, chills, burning during urination, or difficulty urinating. There have been links between inflammation of the prostate and prostate cancer in several studies. This may be a result of being screened for cancer just by having prostate-related symptoms, and currently, this is an area of controversy. Learn more about prostatitis.

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What Are The Side

Due to the position of the prostate in the body there are several common effects from treating prostate cancer. These are impotence and incontinence . Incontinence is usually temporary, and impotence can usually helped by medical treatment, but both of these problems can persist long term. Radiotherapy causes general side-effects such as tiredness and diarrhoea. These side-effects may continue for a period after the course of treatment is complete. Almost all patients receiving hormone therapy experience impotence while the treatment is being taken. Hot flushes, tiredness and weight gain are also common, but will cease when the treatment stops.

Family History And Genetics

Your family history is information about any health problems that have affected your family. Families have many common factors, such as their genes, environment and lifestyle. Together, these factors can help suggest if you are more likely to get some health conditions.

Inside every cell in our body is a set of instructions called genes. These are passed down from our parents. Genes control how the body grows, works and what it looks like. If something goes wrong with one or more genes , it can sometimes cause cancer. For example, BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutations.

Is prostate cancer hereditary?

If people in your family have prostate cancer, breast cancer or ovarian cancer, it might increase your own risk of getting prostate cancer. This is because you may have inherited the same faulty genes.

My father had prostate cancer. What are my risks?

  • You are two and a half times more likely to get prostate cancer if your father or brother has had it, compared to a man who has no relatives with prostate cancer.
  • Your chance of getting prostate cancer may be even greater if your father or brother was under 60 when he was diagnosed, or if you have more than one close relative with prostate cancer.
  • Your risk of getting prostate cancer may also be higher if your mother or sister has had breast cancer or ovarian cancer.

Do you have a family history of prostate cancer?

What are BRCA1 and BRCA2?

Am I more at risk of prostate cancer if I have a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation?

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Genetic Testing In Prostate Cancer

Genetic testing identifies gene mutations that can impact patients and their families. Two different types of genetic tests in prostate cancer are germline and somatic. These are clinical tests that are used by doctors to learn more about a patients specific prostate cancer and to help develop treatment plans. Understanding the differences between these tests is important to decide which one is right for you.

Approximately 10% of prostate cancers are thought to be caused by an inherited gene mutation. Inherited genetic mutations can be found in the BRCA1, BRCA2, and HOBX13 genes, among others. If prostate cancer was caused by an inherited gene mutation it is defined as hereditary cancer. People with a hereditary cancer mutation in their family are more likely to have relatives with the same type or other related types of cancer. Hereditary prostate cancer is generally more aggressive than non-hereditary cancer types, which means that early detection can be lifesaving. Having hereditary cancer can also mean a higher risk for developing more than one cancer and those cancers often occur at an earlier age. However, it is important to know that while prostate cancer can run in some families, most prostate cancers occur in men without a family history of it.

Clinical vs. Recreational Genetic Testing

To reduce any confusion, here is a helpful comparison to show the difference between clinical and recreational genetic tests.

Genetic Testing Video Resources:

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Breast Cancer Screening For Women With A Strong Family History Of Breast Or Ovarian Cancer

Prostate Cancer Hereditary

There are special breast cancer screening guidelines for women with a strong family history of breast or ovarian cancer.

If you have a greater than 20 percent lifetime risk of breast cancer based mainly on your family history of breast or ovarian cancer, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network recommends you get a :

  • Clinical breast exam every 6-12 months, but not before age 21
  • Mammogram every year, starting at age 40 or starting 10 years younger than the youngest breast cancer case in your family
  • Breast MRI every year, starting at age 40 or starting 10 years younger than the youngest breast cancer case in your family

Learn more about breast cancer screening recommendations for women at higher risk.

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Cancer: Does It Run In The Family

This is Abbi. Shes 34 years old, married with one son. Her sister has endometrial cancer, her uncle and cousin have colon cancer, and her aunt has been diagnosed with gastric cancer. What is Abbis cancer risk?

Abbis case is under review by about a dozen doctors, nurses, physicians assistants and nurse-practitioners from Mount Desert Island Hospital in Bar Harbor, Maine, but Abbi is a fictional character and theyre not in a hospital room. The group is gathered for grand rounds in a comfortable dining room at Birch Bay Village, a hilltop retirement community owned by the hospital.

A sparkling panorama of ocean and snow-covered hills fills the wraparound windows of the dining room where the MDI staff are taking notes. This mornings program, Practical Cancer Genetics: How to identify patients at increased risk, is presented by the Cancer Genetic Clinical EducationHow can genetics be used in clinic with my patients? Can genetic information really improve outcomes? Genetic testing is constantly changing. How can I keep up?clinical education department of The Jackson Laboratory, the headquarters campus of which is less than two miles from MDI Hospital.

Programs like this help us keep up with whats coming and whats new. Genetic components are getting a lot more involved in every aspect of medicine.

Cancer and inheritance

From left are Reed, Dr. Julian Kuffler from MDI Hospital, and Emily Edelman, associate director, continuing education at JAX. Photo by Tiffany Laufer.

Does The Susceptibility Of Prostate Cancer To Radiation Run In Families

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Ask U.S. doctors your own question and get educational, text answers â it’s anonymous and free!

HealthTap doctors are based in the U.S., board certified, and available by text or video.

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Hereditary Breast And Ovarian Cancer Syndrome

Families with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndrome have family members who have developed breast cancer and/or ovarian cancer. Often these cancers are found in women who are younger than the usual age these cancers are found, and some women might have more than one cancer . .

Most often, HBOC is caused by an inherited mutation in either the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene. Some families have HBOC based on cancer history, but dont have mutations in either of these genes. Scientists believe that there might also be other genes that can cause HBOC that are not yet known.

The risk of breast and ovarian cancer is very high in women with mutations in either BRCA1 or BRCA2. This syndrome can also lead to fallopian tube cancer, primary peritoneal cancer, male breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, and prostate cancer, as well as some others. Some people might have more than one cancer. For example, a woman might have breast cancer in both breasts, or both breast and ovarian cancer, or a man might have both pancreatic and prostate cancer. Male breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, and prostate cancer can be seen with mutations in either gene, but are more common in people with BRCA2 mutations. In the US, mutations in the BRCA genes are more common in people of Ashkenazi Jewish descent than in the general population.

History Of Prostate Cancer

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People who have one or more first-degree relatives whos had prostate cancer may have an increased risk of breast cancer, especially if the prostate cancer was diagnosed at a young age .

This increased risk is likely due to inherited gene mutations related to the risk of both breast and prostate cancers .

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What Tests Can Be Used To Detect Prostate Cancer

A number of different tests are used, but none of them is conclusive on its own.

  • Rectal examination by inserting a gloved finger into the back passage your doctor can actually feel the prostate gland, to find out whether it is larger than it should be. Even if it is enlarged, this does not mean that it is cancerous.
  • PSA blood test if the level of Prostate Specific Antigen in your blood is too high, this may suggest that there is a prostate cancer, but there are several other conditions which cause an increase in blood PSA levels.
  • Ultrasound a small probe is inserted into the back passage and used to do an ultrasound scan, showing the exact size of the prostate.
  • Biopsy this involves taking a tiny sample of tissue from the prostate. A probe is inserted into the back passage and a small needle used to remove tiny parts of the prostate itself.
  • Bone Scan a bone scan can reveal whether there is any cancer which has spread to the bones near the prostate.

Get Involved In The Prostate Cancer Process

Show an interest in what your loved one is going through with prostate cancer. Offer to go with them to doctor visits. This is the best way to learn about their health, treatment decisions, and other important issues related to the disease.

Feel free to ask questions of the doctor and others on the medical team — if it’s OK with the patient. Be sensitive about asking questions to which they may not want answers.

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Risks And Causes Of Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is not clearly linked to any preventable causes. Your risk of developing it depends on many things. These include age and ethnicity.

Anything that can increase your risk of getting a disease is called a risk factor.

Different cancers have different risk factors. Having one or more of these risk factors doesn’t mean you will definitely get that cancer.

Am I At Risk Of Prostate Cancer

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In the UK, about 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime. We don’t know exactly what causes prostate cancer but there are some things that may mean you are more likely to get it these are called risk factors.

There are three main risk factors for getting prostate cancer, which are things you can’t change. These are:

  • getting older it mainly affects men aged 50 or over

If you have any of these risk factors or if you have any symptoms, speak to your GP. They can talk to you about your risk, and about the tests that are used to diagnose prostate cancer. You can also get in touch with our Specialist Nurses, who can help you understand your risk of prostate cancer.

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