Women and prostate cancer

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Women do get prostate cancer! http://regender.com/swap/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,168104,00.html Breast Cancer Gene Mutation May Affect Women Thursday, September 01, 2005 By Hitti A gene mutation linked to significantly higher risks of breast cancer and ovarian cancers in men may also affect women, a new study shows. The gene mutation is called BRCA2. It and another gene mutation (called BRCA1) have been shown to strongly raise a man's risk of breast or ovarian cancer. Now Dutch researchers report that the BRCA2 gene mutation may also raise women's cancer risk. But they aren't advising BRCA2 genetic screening for women at this point. New Methods for Targeting Cancer Four Cancers Stood Out The higher risk was seen

with cancers of the prostate and pancreas, and possibly also bone cancer and cancer of the throat (pharynx). Nearly all of the notable increases in the risk of those cancers were seen only in women with the BRCA2 gene mutation. Risks tended to be higher for people younger than 65. The findings appear in the Journal of Medical Genetics. The researchers included van Asperen, MD, PhD. He works at the Center for Human and Clinical Genetics at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands. More Than 100 Families Studied The study included 139 families. All of the families had a member with the BRCA2 gene mutation and either breast or ovarian cancer. Cancer risk for sites other than breast and ovaries were estimated and compared with cancer risk for the general population. A total of 441 people had the BRCA2 gene. Their cancer rates were compared with those of the Dutch

public. Besides higher rates of prostate, pancreatic, bone, and pharynx cancer, the researchers also found a slightly higher rate of digestive system cancers and a lower rate of lung cancer. In some cases, it wasn't totally clear if the bone cancers were caused by other cancers that had spread to the bone, the researchers note. They call for larger studies, especially since 11 out of the 24 women with prostate cancer had already died when the study was done. It's not known if those deaths were due to prostate cancer. SOURCES: van Asperen, C. Journal of Medical Genetics, Sept. 2005; vol 42: pp 711-719. News release, BMJ Specialist Journals. Have a nice Day!

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