Featured Article Academic Journal Main Category: Prostate / Prostate Cancer Also Included In: Cancer / Oncology;Men's Health;Genetics Article Date: 10 Apr 2013 - 3:00 PDT

Current ratings for: Prostate Cancer With Faulty BRCA2 Gene Spreads More Quickly

5 (1 votes)

Research has already established that men who inherit a faulty BRCA2 gene have a higher risk of developing prostate cancer, but this, the largest study of its kind, is the first to show that the faulty gene also means carriers are more likely to experience more rapid spread of the disease and poorer survival.

The study, reported this week in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, poses a potential challenge to health systems like the UK's NHS where carriers of the faulty gene are offered the same prostate cancer treatment options as non-carriers.

Senior author Ros Eeles, Professor of Oncogenetics at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in the UK, says in a statement that the study clearly shows prostate cancers linked to inheritance of the faulty BRCA2 cancer gene are more deadly than other types.

"It must make sense to start offering affected men immediate surgery or radiotherapy, even for early-stage cases that would otherwise be classified as low-risk," says Eeles, who is also Honorary Consultant in Clinical Oncology at The Royal Marsden in London.

However, she also cautions that:

"We won't be able to tell for certain that earlier treatment can benefit men with inherited cancer genes until we've tested it in a clinical trial, but the hope is that our study will ultimately save lives by directing treatment at those who most need it."

Mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes were originally spotted in patients with breast cancer. We now know that these faulty genes not only raise the risk of developing breast cancer, but also of ovarian and prostate cancers.

Read this article:
Prostate Cancer With Faulty BRCA2 Gene Spreads More Quickly

Comments are closed.