During the past few years, scientists have made great progress in understanding how certain changes in DNA can cause normal prostate cells to grow abnormally and form cancers. DNA is the chemical that carries the instructions for nearly everything our cells do. However, DNA affects more than your outward appearance. Certain genes that promote cell division are called oncogenes. Others that slow down cell division or cause cells to die at the appropriate time are called tumor suppressor genes.
Some people develop certain types of cancer because of DNA mutations they inherited from a parent.
Researchers have discovered inherited DNA changes in certain genes that make some people more likely to develop prostate cancer. Research on these genes is still preliminary and genetic tests are not yet available. Mutations of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes greatly increase a woman's risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer. Men with BRCA gene changes may have a slightly to moderately increased prostate cancer risk. But BRCA changes are believed to be responsible for only a very small number of prostate cancers.