Most of us believe that breast cancer in women goes almost in tow with prostate cancer in men with regards to incidence. In genetic terms, a study by scientists from the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) has shown that men carrying a gene known to increase breast cancer risk in women could be exposed to 4 times the risk of prostate cancer.
As seen in most breast cancer cases, the BRCA1 gene is apparently the culprit here. About 913 men were examined as part of the study. More than half of the individuals with the BRCA1 gene seemed to suffer from prostate cancer at age 65. This scenario revealed that the gene could be used as a diagnostic cue for cancer of the prostate.
Prostate Action Chief Executive, Emma Malcolm, cited, “We’ve long known about the link between breast cancer and prostate cancer and this research confirms the likelihood of men developing prostate cancer from the inherited faulty BRCA1 gene. Once gene testing becomes faster and cheaper we may be able to identify those men at a higher risk of prostate cancer and monitor them from an early age.”
According to the team, men with the BRCA1 gene apparently faced 9% chances of developing prostate cancer as they touched 65 years of age. Going in line is the idea that roughly 1 in 200 patients of the disease will carry the breast cancer gene.
The trial essentially points out that drugs and medications targeting the deficits of the BRCA1 mutation could be used as part of prostate cancer treatment. The report is published in the recent issue of the British Journal of Cancer.