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            To Gauge Prostate Cancer Risk, Explore More Family Ties

   by Jessica Berman

   When it comes to prostate cancer, it's not enough for a clinician to
   ask whether a man's parents or other first-degree relatives had the
   disease. Broadening the family history and inquiring about uncles,
   grandparents and great-grandparents can help identify patients at high
   risk for the disease - and can help determine who should have a blood
   test for screening.

   The so-called PSA or prostate-specific antigen blood test for the
   disease is controversial because of the high rate of false positives.
   Prostate enlargement, which frequently occurs with age or an infection,
   can lead doctors to suspect cancer when it is not there, resulting in
   painful and unnecessary biopsies.

   To find out who might benefit most from testing, researchers at the
   University of Utah's Huntsman Cancer Institute obtained information on
   family prostate cancer history from 7.3 million people in the Utah
   Population Database. Then they developed individualized risk estimates
   for men based on their first-, second- and third-degree relatives'
   experiences.

   Based on the number of relatives who had the disease, researchers
   determined that 10 percent of the men had three times the risk of
   developing the disease and 26 percent had double the risk compared to
   those with no family history of prostate cancer.

   Prostate cancer is the [1]most common form of cancer in men.
   Approximately 15 percent of men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer,
   which usually is found among those 50 and older, [2]according to the
   institute and the [3]National Cancer Institute.

   [4]Results of the study - funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, the
   National Institutes of Health and the Huntsman Cancer Foundation - were
   published in [5]The Prostate journal.
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   [6]http://www.voanews.com/content/gauge-prostate-cancer-risk-with-more-
   complete-family-history/2590848.html

References

   1. http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/dcpc/data/men.htm
   2. http://healthcare.utah.edu/huntsmancancerinstitute/cancer-information/cancer-types-and-topics/prostate-cancer.php
   3. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-01/uouh-nsf010815.php
   4. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-01/uouh-nsf010815.php
   5. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pros.22925/full
   6. http://www.voanews.com/content/gauge-prostate-cancer-risk-with-more-complete-family-history/2590848.html