Cancer In Sister Affects Black Men’s Cancer Risk

For African-American men, the chances of developing prostate cancer are increased if a sister has breast cancer, according to a study by researchers at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

“Previous studies have suggested that having a brother with prostate cancer confers a higher risk than another relative, such as a father or son,” Dr. Jennifer L. Beebe-Dimmer noted in a written statement. “But this is the first time a link has been shown between sisters with breast cancer and prostate cancer risk among African-American men.”

Dr. Beebe-Dimmer and colleagues explored the clustering of prostate and breast cancer in families, by studying data on 121 African-American men with prostate cancer and 179 without prostate cancer. Their findings appear in the medical journal Urology.

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After taking account of age, the researchers found that men with prostate cancer were 4.8 times more likely than men without prostate cancer to have a brother with prostate cancer, and 3.8 times more likely to have a sister with breast cancer.

“Collecting a family history of prostate and breast cancer, particularly among siblings, could be a key component in the clinical assessment of prostate cancer risk among African-American men,” the team writes.

“A well-documented family history of all cancer among first-degree relatives may signal a need for more aggressive prostate cancer screening practices and the adoption of screening at an earlier age,” they add.