Men and the Breast Cancer Gene at He's Fit

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Men and the Breast Cancer Gene

Posted February 27, 2008 at 01:30 PM by Denise Musumeci

Section: In The News, His Health, Physical Health

dad and daughter Doctors are encouraging men to get tested for genes that may cause breast cancer, according to MSNBC. Most men with female relatives that carry breast cancer genes do not realize that they can also be carriers of these genes. These same men are at greater risk of not only developing breast cancer, but also cancers of the prostate, pancreas and skin.

Many people think that breast cancer is inherited from women and don’t even realize that the genes may come from the father’s side. Dr. Mary Daly of Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia conducted a small study after finding several men with breast cancer who didn’t know that they were at risk.

She took 24 men who had female family members with breast cancer and told them the news. 6 did not know they had it, 2 were mistakenly told that the test was negative, 7 did not think that their risk was any higher because of the results, and only 5 understood that they had an elevated risk. Only six of the men in the survey were interested in having a test don’t to see if they, too, carry the gene.

By getting tested for the BRCA-1 or BRCA-2 genes, these men will be doing themselves and their family members a favor. If men know that they carry the genes, for breast cancer risk, their children, especially girls, can assess their own risk for cancer and know their family history when being evaluated by doctors.

The challenge is convincing every man with a family history of cancer to want to get tested, since most men would rather skip the test. What men should realize is that they are getting tested for their children’s sake.

Research sources and for more information: [MSNBC]; [picture]