Men at greater risk of developing
prostate cancer when a brother has the disease
By Karen Carter Mallet
Fox Cancer Study/Eurekalert, September 12, 2003
It
has been well-established that the risk of prostate cancer is increased
among men who have a first-degree relative (father, son, brother) with the
disease, but new research shows the risk is greatly increased for men who
have a brother with prostate cancer. The meta-analysis research led by
Deborah Watkins Bruner, Ph.D., at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia,
Pa., was published online Friday, Sept. 12, 2003, in the International
Journal of Cancer.
"This study is
the first to report a statistically higher risk associated with having a
brother with prostate cancer than having an affected father," said
Bruner.
Bruner, director of
the Prostate Cancer Risk Assessment Program at Fox Chase, and her
colleagues conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the current
literature, using 23 of 332 published studies that met meticulous
criteria.
The results
confirmed an increased risk of prostate cancer for men with a family
history of the disease, but the meta-analysis revealed a 2.9 fold
increased risk when the affected relative was a brother. The risk
increased 1.8 fold when the affected relative was a second-degree family
member (a grandfather or uncle), and 2.1 fold when the relative with
prostate cancer was a father.
"Unlike the
maternal-child pattern that we see with inherited breast cancers, a
brother with prostate cancer was associated with a significantly increased
risk of the disease compared to a father or any other relative with the
disease," explained Bruner. "This may suggest that the risk may
be related to shared environmental factors such as dietary exposures or
age of onset of disease, which might reveal a stronger genetic risk."
Bruner said this is
another crucial step to better identify who is at risk of developing
prostate cancer. "The ultimate goal is to reduce unnecessary
screenings and biopsies by identifying at-risk populations and better
tailor prostate cancer screening for those men." Bruner concluded by
saying more research into patterns of inherited prostate cancer risk is
needed. "We need to assess the risk of disease associated with
younger age [less than 65 or 70 years] of onset, dietary habits and
lifestyle behaviors that may interact with inherited genes to increase
prostate cancer risk."
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