Hereditary prostate cancer is a genetically heterogeneous disease, and so far four different susceptibility loci have been identified. Reports of associated cancers are few, and it is generally considered a site-specific disease. However, some reports have shown an elevated risk for prostate cancer among BRCA2 mutation carriers. In this report, we present a family in which the father and four of his sons were diagnosed with prostate cancer at exceptionally early ages (51, 52, 56, 58, and 63 years, respectively). In addition, three daughters were diagnosed with breast cancer between the ages of 47 and 61. In this family, a truncating mutation in exon 11, 6051delA of the BRCA2 gene, leading to an early termination of the protein (codon 1962), was identified. Although BRCA2 is probably responsible only for a very small fraction of hereditary prostate cancers, this finding supports previous reports of an increased risk of prostate cancer in BRCA2 mutation carriers.
Copyright 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.