Does BPH Run in Some Families?

(This information is from Dr. Patrick Walsh's Guide to Surviving Prostate Cancer)

Several studies at Johns Hopkins suggest that it does. Hopkins scientists believe that for a small number of men—about 7 percent—age isn’t the only major risk factor. These men probably have inherited one or more genes that somehow make them prone to BPH. In one investigation, scientists studied men aged sixty-four and younger with notable prostate enlargement. They also studied their relatives and family histories. They found that the male relatives of these men were four times as likely as other men to require a prostatectomy to treat BPH. And brothers of these men were six times as likely as other men to need surgery to treat BPH. Understanding how the disease works in these men—specifically, identifying the genes involved— may provide major insight into the far more common form of BPH and one day may even help us prevent it. If you have a strong family history of BPH, scientists at Johns Hopkins would be very interested in hearing from you. (Send inquiries to the Hereditary Prostate Disease Study, James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD 21287–2101, Attention: Dr. Patrick Walsh.)