In May, Australian researchers announced a world-first discovery - a gene that causes breast cancer can also cause prostate cancer. The confirmation of this new risk factor, based on laboratory experiments, will help men determine whether they have a four-time greater risk of developing prostate cancer and allow these men to be monitored more closely for the disease.
One in 11 Australian men will develop prostate cancer by age 70. The strongest risk factor is age and the chance of developing the disease rises rapidly after age 50. Family history of prostate cancer is also a known risk factor – and now, thanks to the kConFab research, a family history of breast or ovarian cancer can now be added as a known risk factor. Some families are cancer-prone because one of their genes carries a genetic fault (a mutation) that is passed from one generation to the next. So perhaps for any of you with a family history of cancer, now maybe the time to do some research of your own and takes the necessary steps to be checked.
(www.movember.com)