Inherited genes '˜have more prominent role in prostate cancer'

Inherited genes play a greater role in prostate cancer than was previously thought, raising the possibility of personalised treatments for the disease, research has shown.
Inherited genes play a greater role in prostate cancer than previously thought. Picture: Callum BennettsInherited genes play a greater role in prostate cancer than previously thought. Picture: Callum Bennetts
Inherited genes play a greater role in prostate cancer than previously thought. Picture: Callum Bennetts

A new study suggests that around 12 per cent of men with advanced prostate cancer have defective genes inherited from one or both of their parents.

The most common affected gene was BRCA2, which is also linked to breast and ovarian cancer in women.

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Like the other inherited prostate cancer genes, when working properly it helps repair faulty DNA.

The discovery could pave the way to genetic testing for men with the disease to identify those who might benefit from specific therapies.

Patients with inherited BRCA mutations may benefit from treatment with new drugs called PARP inhibitors.

British scientists working with colleagues in the US used a simple saliva test to study 20 genes known to have a role in DNA repair in 692 men with advanced prostate cancer.

Around 12 per cent were found to have at least one inherited mutation in a DNA repair gene. BRCA2 was mutated in 5 per cent of the men.

Professor Johann de Bono, from the Institute of Cancer Research in London, who led the UK team, said: “Our study has shown that a significant proportion of men with advanced prostate cancer are born with DNA repair mutations. Genetic testing for these mutations could identify men with advanced prostate cancer who may benefit from precision treatment.

“We also need to establish the impact of having DNA repair defects on survival in men with prostate cancer, and whether we can predict who will develop severe disease, so we can design new treatment strategies to cure this disease.”

Mutated DNA repair genes were more than four times more common in men with advanced prostate cancer than in the general population. They were also more than twice as likely to be found in men with advanced prostate cancer that had spread than men with localised prostate cancer.

The findings are published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Each year around 47,000 men in the UK are diagnosed with prostate cancer and 11,000 die from the disease.

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