Prostate Cancer Genetics: Does Your Family History Play a Role?

Prostate cancer is the second-most diagnosed cancer in American men. Genetics plays a role in determining your personal risk of developing the disease along with other important risk factors.

According to the National Cancer Institute, risk factors for developing prostate cancer include age, ancestry, and family history. They explain that prostate cancer is highly inheritable. The increase in risk will depend on the number of first-degree relatives (FDRs) diagnosed with the disease and who those FDRs are.

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For instance, Cancer.net explains that genetics should be considered a risk factor if you have three or more FDRs with the disease, there is prostate cancer in at least three generations on the same side of the family, or if you have more than two close relatives who were diagnosed prior to age 55.

They further explain that if you have a close relative like a father, son, or brother with prostate cancer, your personal risk of developing it is two to three times higher.

Besides family history, there are some genetic mutations that are associated with increased risk of prostate cancer, says the American Cancer Society. Certain genes are helpful for suppressing the growth of tumors, and when there is a mutation in them, they cannot be as effective.

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Examples of tumor-suppressing genes that can elevate the risk of prostate cancer when they are mutated include RNASEL (formerly called HPC1) and the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. These genetic mutations are inherited and account for as many as 10 percent of all prostate cancer cases.

Some men will also inherit a genetic mutation in genes that fix mistakes in DNA when cells replicate. Every time a cell reproduces, it must exactly replicate its DNA. When mutations occur in these DNA mismatch repair genes, Lynch syndrome results, says the American Cancer Society. These patients have an increased risk of prostate and colorectal cancer.

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