Prostate cancer risk can be predicted by testing gene mutation: Study

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: A new study has revealed that testing for mutations can help in predicting the risk of prostate cancer.

The findings by researchers in the US revealed that 11.8 per cent of men with metastatic prostate cancer had mutations in at least one gene known to help repair Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) -- such as BRCA1 and BRCA2.

That rate is more than four times higher than those found in the general population and more than twice the rate of men with localised prostate cancer.

In the case of one DNA repair gene - BRCA2 - men with prostate cancer that had spread beyond the prostate were found to have 18 times the risk of carrying a mutation in that gene than men without prostate cancer.

(With IANS inputs)