Prostate Cancer and Genetics

Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School

Prostate Cancer and Genetics

Question:

Is hereditary prostate cancer passed on from the mother's side or the father's — and does it matter?

Answer:

Prostate cancer, one of the most common cancers in men in the United States, is more frequent in men with a family history of the disease. Men who have a first-degree relative (such as a father or brother) with prostate cancer are at a definite increased risk. Those who are at extremely high risk are those whose father, paternal grandfather and brothers all have a history of prostate cancer.

Although researchers have looked for a specific genetic defect that causes prostate cancer, no gene has been discovered yet. Researchers have found several genes that are common to certain families.

Interestingly, the mother may be the source of one or more abnormal genes that increase her sons' risk of prostate cancer. So, the brother of a patient with prostate cancer may have also inherited that increased risk. And it could come from the mother or the father.

We know there is an increased risk of prostate cancer if a man's uncle (either maternal or paternal) has prostate cancer. The risk is also increased if the man's grandfather (from either the maternal or paternal side) has or had the disease.

In addition, there are some interesting associations of increased prostate cancer risk in men who have multiple female relatives with breast cancer. For example, the risk of prostate cancer is increased if the patient's mother and her family have a high incidence of breast cancer. This has sometimes been linked to the presence of the "breast cancer gene," BRCA.

Last updated:	July 20, 2009