Breast cancer gene linked to prostate cancer risk

A study has found that men who carry a faulty version of a breast cancer gene are four to five times more likely to get prostate cancer. Carriers of the faulty BRCA2 gene, of either sex, also seem to be vulnerable to malignant melanoma and cancers of the pancreas, gall bladder, mouth and throat. Led by Dr Douglas Easton, the researchers at the genetic epidemiology unit in Cambridge examined almost 5,000 health records of families in the US and Europe, in the largest study of its kind. They found that men with the faulty BRCA2 gene - discovered four years ago - had a one in nine chance of contracting prostate cancer before the age of 70, while for the average man it was one in 50. Women with the faulty gene who had suffered from breast cancer were shown to have a one in two chance of developing a new cancer in the other breast. They also had a one in six chance of developing ovarian cancer by their 70th birthday.