Most men with prostate cancer develop it spontaneously and not because of an inherited risk however it is thought that inheritance may be a factor in the development of slightly less than one in ten prostate cancers.

Studies have shown that men who have a father or brother who has had prostate cancer are about twice as likely to develop prostate cancer as a man who has no close relatives with the condition. The same studies have also shown that the more men in a family who have had prostate cancer the greater the risk of developing the condition. Other figures show that if a man develops prostate cancer at a relatively low age (below 65) then the risk of other close male relatives developing the condition is far higher than in the rest of the population.

There is also some evidence that certain ethnic groups have a higher chance of developing prostate cancer than others, for example Afro Caribbean or African-American men are more likely to have this type of cancer. Asian men have a lower risk of developing prostate cancer.

Although scientists and doctors feel that these findings do show there is a genetic link for about 9% of all prostate cancers it is still uncertain exactly how this works and what genes are involved.

It is known though that there is a link in some families between prostate cancer and breast cancer. One of the genes known to be connected to the development of some breast cancers is called BRCA2 and men who are carriers of this gene appear to have about a threefold increased risk of developing prostate cancer compared to men who do not.

BRCA2 often leads to a woman getting breast or ovarian cancer early on in their life (in their thirties or forties). It is not like that for prostate cancer. Even if a man is a BRCA2 carrier, he is not at risk of getting prostate cancer early, nor is it sure that he will get cancer at all, but he has an increased risk of getting prostate cancer once he is over fifty.