A study by researchers from Albert Einstein College of Medicine has shown that men with a mutation of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes (the "breast cancer genes") may have a higher risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer.
The study found that men, in general, were no more likely to get prostate cancer if they had one of these mutations, but, if they had early prostate cancer and a mutation in one of these genes, then they were more likely to have an aggressive form of the cancer.
While mutations in BRCA1 and 2 were already known to cause increased risk of breast and ovarian cancers in women, this was the first study to show a possible link to more aggressive prostate cancer.
This study will soon be published in the journal, Clinical Cancer Research.
