Greater Risk of Developing Prostate
Cancer When A Brother Has the Disease, Risk Increased Nearly
Three-Fold
PHILADELPHIA
(Sept. 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.At team led by Deborah Watkins
Bruner, Ph.D., at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, Pa., published
a study online riday, Sept. 12, 2003, in the International Journal
of Cancer that shows this is the case.
"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." SOURCE:
Fox Chase. Ed. J Strax.
Fox
Chase Cancer Center, one of the nation's first comprehensive cancer centers
designated by the National Cancer Institute in 1974, conducts basic and
clinical research; programs of prevention, detection and treatment of
cancer; and community outreach. For more information about Fox
Chase activities, visit the Center's web site at www.fccc.edu.
Article: " Risk
of Prostate Cancer for Men with Affected Relatives: Systematic
Review and Meta-Analysis." Deborah
Watkins Bruner, Ph.D., Dirk Moore, Ph.D., Alicia Parlanti, M.S., Joanne Dorgan,
Ph.D., Paul Engstrom, M.D.; International Journal of Cancer. www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jissue/76502439
This page made and last edited by J.Strax, Jan 2004. |
