Prostate cancer risk: The role of relatives

“Our analyses of this largest database of its kind in the world showed that if first-degree relatives – i.e. father or brother – have a precursor stage of prostate cancer, men are 1.7 times more likely to develop invasive prostate cancer themselves compared to men without prostate cancer or precancerous stages in their family history,” Mahdi Fallah reports. This increased risk of prostate cancer is close to that of men who have relatives with invasive prostate cancer: They have about 2-fold higher risk.

In addition, men who have a first-degree prostate cancer precursor in a first-degree relative have 1.7 times the risk of dying of invasive prostate cancer – also compared to men who have no relatives with prostate cancer precursors or prostate cancer. The risk of prostate cancer is 2-fold in men whose relatives have been diagnosed with precancerous lesions under the age of 60, which is slightly higher than that in men whose relatives have been diagnosed with precancerous lesions at an older age (1.7 times).

“If there are precursors of prostate cancer in the family history, these tumor forms are therefore just as relevant as invasive forms of prostate cancer in relatives – in terms of both the incidence of prostate cancer and mortality,” explains Mahdi Fallah.

“Since family history is the strongest known risk factor for prostate cancer, these study results also have an impact on prevention – namely on the risk-adapted early detection of prostate cancer,” adds Elham Kharazmi, co-leader of the study and scientist at the DKFZ and the NCT Heidelberg. Not only prostate cancer, but also precursors of it in the family history should be included in the consultation of family members for early detection and risk assessment.

Source: National Center for Tumor Diseases Heidelberg (NCT)

Published at Fri, 21 Aug 2020 23:10:03 +0000