Men who eat a lot of dairy products appear to have a slightly higher chance of getting prostate cancer. The exact role of diet in prostate cancer is not clear, but several factors have been studied. For more on some of these gene changes, see What Causes Prostate Cancer? Factors with less clear effects on prostate cancer risk Diet Other inherited gene changes can also raise a man’s risk of prostate cancer. Men with Lynch syndrome (also known as hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer, or HNPCC), a condition caused by inherited gene changes, have an increased risk for a number of cancers, including prostate cancer.

Inherited mutations of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes, which are linked to an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancers in some families, can also increase prostate cancer risk in men (especially mutations in BRCA2).Several inherited gene changes (mutations) seem to raise prostate cancer risk, but they probably account for only a small percentage of cases overall. (The risk is higher for men who have a brother with the disease than for those who have a father with it.) The risk is much higher for men with several affected relatives, particularly if their relatives were young when the cancer was found. Having a father or brother with prostate cancer more than doubles a man’s risk of developing this disease. Still, most prostate cancers occur in men without a family history of it. Prostate cancer seems to run in some families, which suggests that in some cases there may be an inherited or genetic factor. For example, Asian Americans have a lower risk of prostate cancer than white Americans, but their risk is higher than that of men of similar ethnic backgrounds living in Asia. More intensive screening for prostate cancer in some developed countries probably accounts for at least part of this difference, but other factors such as lifestyle differences (diet, etc.) are likely to be important as well. It is less common in Asia, Africa, Central America, and South America. Prostate cancer is most common in North America, northwestern Europe, Australia, and on Caribbean islands.

The reasons for these racial and ethnic differences are not clear. Prostate cancer occurs less often in Asian American and Hispanic/Latino men than in non-Hispanic whites. And when it does develop in these men, they tend to be younger. Prostate cancer develops more often in African American men and in Caribbean men of African ancestry than in men of other races. About 6 in 10 cases of prostate cancer are found in men older than 65.

Prostate cancer is rare in men younger than 40, but the chance of having prostate cancer rises rapidly after age 50. Researchers have found several factors that might affect a man’s risk of getting prostate cancer. Many people with one or more risk factors never get cancer, while others who get cancer may have had few or no known risk factors. Others, like a person’s age or family history, can’t be changed.īut having a risk factor, or even several, does not mean that you will get the disease. Some risk factors, like smoking, can be changed. Different cancers have different risk factors. A risk factor is anything that raises your risk of getting a disease such as cancer.

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