Prostate Cancer Has a New Gene Linked To It, Here's What You Need to Know

Doctors would ask us about our family history of certain illnesses and conditions to find out whether we are at risk in contracting some of them. This is the general practice for a great amount of conditions whose cause can be traced back to genetics. Now, thanks to the advancements in the study of prostate cancer, scientists have now found a gene, which increases a person's risk of getting prostate cancer.

This study was conducted by the Institute of Cancer Research and has shown that an alarming one-third of all men with advanced prostate cancer have a faulted capacity for DNA repair, which is present in their genes since birth, as they are born with this condition. "Our study has shown that a significant proportion of men with advanced prostate cancer are born with DNA repair mutations and this could have important implications for patients, says Johann de Bono, professor of experimental cancer medicine at the Institute of Cancer Research.

The ICR's study made use of a sample of 692 men who have metastatic prostate cancer. 20 of their genes responsible for the process of DNA repair were then focused on. According to a report from The Independent 12% of the test subjects have at least one "germline" mutation in a DNA repair gene, which is said to be inherited or present even before birth. This could also mean that their family members are at high risk as well.

The most common gene is known as BRCA 2 and was found to be mutated in around five percent of the men. This implicates that studies should be conducted on the relatives of the men with BRCA 2 mutation. When this study comes into full swing, hopefully its results can help those who are battling prostate cancer or are at risk of it.