Survey of excess familiality in prostate cancer

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among men, and has long been recognized to occur in familial clusters. However, identification of genes predisposing individuals to prostate cancer has been difficult. Putative PCa predisposition loci identified by genetic linkage have been reported on almost all chromosomes, but successful confirmation reports have been rare. PCa is a complex disease likely involving multiple genes and variable phenotypic expression. As a step toward understanding PCa heterogeneity, we used the resources of the Utah Population Database to review several PCa-related phenotypes for excess familiality. PCa subgroups that can be shown to have a strong familial component become candidates for linkage analysis and other genetic testing to determine the genetic basis for the observed phenotype.