Women at risk for developing breast cancer are more likely to have close male relatives with prostate cancer, suggesting both cluster in genetic families.
Reuters reported that the link between prostate and breast cancer has been suggested before, however a new study using data for more than 78,000 women in the Women’s Health Initiative is among the largest ever performed that reinforces the theory.
"This is not the first study to examine this relationship, but it is one of the larger to date, if not the largest study," said lead author Jennifer L. Beebe-Dimmer of Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit.
Of the nearly 80,000 women who participated in the study, all were over the age of 50 and free of breast cancer when the study began. By 2009, nearly 20 years later, there were over 3,500 new breast cancer diagnoses.
Researchers found that the women who developed breast cancer were 5 percent more likely than their peers who didn't develop it to have a first-degree relative – like a mother, sister, or daughter – with breast cancer.
The likelihood that women with breast cancer had a relative with prostate cancer was a smaller 1 percent. While this may seem negligible, paying attention to first-degree relatives both male and female who are diagnosed with these types of cancer could give women some idea of their risk factor, and indicate that they need increased screening.
"Knowledge of breast cancer family history is still extremely important," said Beebe-Dimmer.
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