BRCA Gene Mutation Linked To Prostate Cancer Risk
The BRCA gene
mutation responsible for hereditary breast cancer also is linked to an
increased risk of prostate cancer.
Researchers
at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center confirmed the link using
DNA samples from 251 men of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry who had prostate
cancer.
These samples
were tested for mutations of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes and compared to
specimens taken from 1,472 healthy men.
The risk of
the disease was found to be 4.8 times higher in carriers of a specific
BRCA2 mutation. "While the association between hereditary breast cancer
and prostate cancer has been suspected, this is the first study of its
type to confirm the link.
While the participants
in the study were of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry, the results might apply
to all individuals with BRCA2 mutations," the authors noted.
The age of onset
of prostate cancer was no different in men carrying these mutations than
in most men diagnosed with the disease.
The results
of this study were published in the May 1 issue of Clinical Cancer Research.
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