In 2016, Nelson and SPORE collaborators Heather Cheng, MD, PhD, and Colin Pritchard, MD, PhD, showed that men with advanced prostate cancer were five times more likely than men in the general population to have inherited mutations in DNA-repair genes like BRCA1 and BRCA2.
It highlighted the role that inherited mutations may play in cancer development and the importance of genetic screening for prostate cancer patients and their family members. A patient’s siblings may also have inherited the same mutation, and they may have passed it to their own children. If a man tests positive for such a mutation, his family members have critical information they can use to assess their own risk. If they also test positive, the family members can opt for more aggressive screening strategies designed to catch prostate (and breast, ovarian and pancreatic) cancers early.
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