Doctors are now considering testing the inherited genetics of all men with advanced prostate cancer, ideally at diagnosis, in order to understand their disease better. Not only will it provide clues as to how to treat the cancer, says Dr. Eli Van Allen, a medical oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, but it may also reveal the cancer’s genetic tendency to behave in a certain way, which is a vital predictor for how to treat.
In addition, learning whether you have a genetic cancer gene will be extremely significant for other family members, since men with a family history are considered high risk and need to be screened at a much younger age.
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