Elsevier

Urology

Volume 50, Issue 3, September 1997, Pages 360-365
Urology

Adult urology
Sons of men with prostate cancer: Their attitudes regarding possible inheritance of prostate cancer, screening, and genetic testing**

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0090-4295(97)00250-1Get rights and content

Abstract

Objectives

To study attitudes regarding possible inheritance of prostate cancer among sons of men with prostate cancer.

Methods

A questionnaire was sent to 69 men with prostate cancer and their 101 unaffected sons. All participants were also interviewed by telephone. Sociodemographic data were collected, as were data about the fathers' disease.

Results

The response rate was high: 100 sons (99%) and 65 fathers (94%) answered all questions. Sixty of the sons claimed they had worries about having an increased risk of prostate cancer due to possible inheritance. About 90% of the sons wanted to know whether prostate cancer was inheritable (66 definitely and 24 probably), were positively inclined to undergo screening (65 definitely and 27 probably), and to undergo genetic testing (50 definitely and 41 probably), provided there had been multiple cases of prostate cancer in their family. An interest to know whether prostate cancer could be inherited was more frequent among sons with less than 12 years of education, worries about inheritance, younger age, a father treated with curative intent, and with children of their own, especially if sons. Interest in genetic testing was associated with less than 12 years of education and with worries about inheritance.

Conclusions

A large majority of healthy men with a family history of prostate cancer were interested in knowing whether the disease could be inherited and were positively inclined to undergo screening and genetic testing. Our findings indicate that genetic counseling and a screening program could have beneficial psychological effects in families with multiple cases of prostate cancer.

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Cited by (55)

  • Issues Faced by Unaffected Men With a Family History of Prostate Cancer: A Multidisciplinary Overview

    2008, Journal of Urology
    Citation Excerpt :

    Indeed, research suggests that these men show a strong interest in learning about the inheritance of cancer predisposition and genetic testing, as well as in actually undergoing genetic testing. Specifically the studies listed in table 5 indicate that up to 90% of men at risk for familial prostate cancer were interested in undergoing genetic testing if it becomes available.16,18,32,33 These figures are relatively consistent across countries and cultural backgrounds, with data from France, for example, reporting that 98% of men with at least 1 FDR with prostate cancer were interested in genetic testing, while a similar proportion (94%) of unaffected men with a strong family history in Sweden reported that they would undergo genetic testing if it becomes available.18

  • Familial testicular cancer: Interest in genetic testing among high-risk family members

    2006, Genetics in Medicine
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    Our purpose was not to predict actual uptake of genetic testing but rather to characterize a novel population of families with multiple testicular cancers. Other studies of interest in genetic testing obtained interest ranging from 20% to 95% among women at risk of breast cancer while actual test uptake and returning for disclosure were considerably less.17,23,30,87-92 A recent systematic review of uptake rates for breast cancer genetic testing found a mean hypothetical uptake of 66% and mean actual uptake of 59%.93

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This work was supported by grants from Aktiebolaget Leo Research Foundation.

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