Family History Clinic

I missed this update from The Birmingham Prostate Clinic (21st April 2009) so will give it a post all of it's own especially as they have been using PSAwatch for quite some time:


NEW CLINIC TO PROTECT MEN WITH A FAMILY HISTORY OF PROSTATE CANCER

A new clinic has been established for men with a history of prostate cancer in their family in order to protect them from the disease.

The Birmingham Prostate Clinic has established a new service for men who have a family history of the disease to protect them by providing individually-tailored care.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men, with 34,000 men being diagnosed with the disease each year.

Family history is a major factor in risk of developing prostate cancer. For example, if a first degree relative is diagnosed with prostate cancer before the age of 60, your own risk increases by about four times the average risk. A first degree relative is a father or son.

Clinical Director, Consultant Urologist Alan Doherty explains: “Whenever I see a patient who is diagnosed with prostate cancer, particularly if they are aged below 60, I advise them to speak to their first degree male relatives about having a PSA test.

“Unfortunately, anxieties about family history of prostate cancer are sometimes treated as unnecessary worry, particularly if patients are fairly young.
“However, information about family history is an important part of understanding a man’s risk of prostate cancer and offering the right care and surveillance for him.
“Clinics focusing on family history have been developed in other areas of cancer services, such as for breast and colon cancer. We are applying the same principle to prostate cancer – that people with a family history of a disease need individually tailored care.”

Mr Doherty emphasises that the age of your relative when they develop prostate cancer is very significant.

By the age of 80, around half of all men have some cancer cells in their prostate, but these are usually slow growing and unlikely to cause death.

When prostate cancer develops at a younger age – in forties and fifties – this can be a more aggressive form of the disease which is more likely to spread to other parts of the body.
“Therefore, if your father is diagnosed with prostate cancer at the age of 75, it will reflect less of a family risk than if your brother is diagnosed at the age of 53,” explains Mr Doherty.

It is also important to look at incidence. If more than one first degree relative is diagnosed with prostate cancer, your risk increases fourfold, regardless of their age when the disease develops.
There is also evidence that a faulty gene called BRCA2 linked to breast cancer, in men can increase the risk of prostate cancer fivefold.

The average lifetime risk of developing prostate cancer is one in 12.

The Birmingham Prostate Clinic recommends that men with a family history of prostate cancer have a PSA test every one or two years.

PSA stands for Prostate Specific Antigen, a protein made by the prostate which naturally leaks into the bloodstream when the prostate is damaged.

Annual tests are advised if a relative was diagnosed with prostate cancer under the age of 60 and two yearly tests if over that age.

Patients are advised to keep a record of PSA test results on a record card which enables doctors to see how PSA is behaving over time.

“For example, a patient may have a PSA level which is within the thresholds, or recommendations for a patient’s age, but if it has risen significantly during a single year, this would indicate further tests may be necessary,” says Mr Doherty.

The Birmingham Prostate Clinic offers the new 10 minute PSA test, which enables patients to have the test and discuss their results with the urologist during a single visit.
This is particularly beneficial for patients with a family history of prostate cancer who are likely to experience higher levels of anxiety while waiting for results.

Family History Clinic


(I've added this to the main thread 'PSAwatch-IN ACTION!' found in the month of April)