Researchers Find Familial Prostate Cancer Gene Mutation

January 12, 2012 | Scientists have identified the first hereditary mutation for prostate cancer risk in high-risk families, reporting the discovery in this week's New England Journal of Medicine.

Men with prostate cancer are 20 times more likely than controls to carry a mutation in the gene HOXB13, which plays a key role in prostate development. Scientists believe the newly identified mutation "has implications for prostate-cancer risk assessment and may provide new mechanistic insights into this common cancer." MedPage Today