Genetic link to prostate cancer

Men who inherit a rare genetic mutation are ten to 20 times more likely than average to develop prostate cancer.

The gene variant may help explain cases of the disease that run in families and strike men at unusually young ages.

Scientists believe the discovery could pave the way to a genetic test for inherited prostate cancer. Their study of more than 5,000 men treated for prostate cancer found that 1.4 per cent carried the defective HOXB13 gene. Men with the mutation were much more likely to have a father or brother diagnosed with the disease.

It is the first major genetic variant to be associated with prostate cancer. The findings are published in the New England Journal of Medicine.