A history of Prostate cancer in the family may mean that a man runs a higher risk for the disease, but he’s not more likely to develop prostate enlargement - or Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) as it’s known - according to a report from Europe.

BPH is not considered a precursor of prostate cancer, Dr. Eva Negri told Reuters Health, but the two conditions share some genetic risk factors. “Thus, a relation between family history of prostate cancer and BPH is conceivable.”

To look into that possibility, Dr. Negri, from the “Mario Negri” Institute for Pharmacologic Research in Milan, and colleagues used data from a large Italian study that included 1294 cases of prostate cancer, 1369 cases of BPH and 1451 unaffected men who served as a comparison group.

As shown in previous studies, the risk of prostate cancer was significantly elevated in men with a family history of prostate cancer, the investigators found. The risk of prostate cancer was also significantly higher for those with a family history of ovarian, bladder, and kidney cancer.

In contrast, the risk of BPH was not increased by a family history of prostate cancer or of cancer at any site, the researchers report in the International Journal of Cancer.

“This study confirms that history of prostate cancer is an important risk factor for prostate cancer, but not for BPH, and the risk is higher when the relative affected is a brother,” Negri said. “Male members of families with multiple cases of breast and Ovarian cancers may also have a higher risk of prostate cancer.”

In this study, “we collected information on other factors, including diet, nutrition, physical activity, Smoking, alcohol, and other lifestyle habits,” Negri added. These data will be analyzed “in the near future” to see if any factors affect prostate cancer and BPH.

SOURCE: International Journal of Cancer, April 20, 2005.