According to a study published by the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, a first degree family history of prostate cancer seems to have no impact upon the treatment outcome of patients who receive brachytherapy, more commonly known as seed implanting. The study found that patients with that particular form of family history demonstrated pathological and clinical characteristics that were very similar to men with no family history of the disease at all.

The lead author of the study is Christopher A. Peters MD, a radiation oncologist who now works at the Northeast Radiation Oncology Center in rural Dunmore, PA. At the time of the study however he was chief resident at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

“This information is relevant for both physicians and patients with new diagnoses as they embark on complex treatment decisions,” he said “Now patients with a family history of prostate cancer can be confident that they have the same outcomes as patients with sporadic disease, regardless of the treatment modality they chose.”

The researchers followed a total of 1,738 prostate cancer sufferers. 187 of the participants had a family history of prostate cancer in a first degree relative . The patients were all followed for an average of sixty months. Researchers determined that in low, intermediate and high risk groups a family history of prostate cancer had little to no significance upon the prognosis of men who underwent brachytherapy to treat localized prostate cancer. Previous studies done involving prostate cancer patients who were undergoing external beam radiation therapy or radical prostatectomy have shown similar findings in the past.

Prostate Cancer is the most common form of cancer in men after skin cancer according to figures published by the American Cancer Society. Many of the men diagnosed with the disease do indeed have a family history of the condition and researchers still believe that such a family history does increase the risk of developing the disease at some point in life.

Strangely enough the highest rates of prostate cancer exist in the most developed regions of the world. It is thought that both increased life expectancy and diet in these regions may both be reasons for the increased number of cases. A diet high in red meat and dairy products has been linked with an increased risk of prostate cancer as well.

Brachytherapy has become one of the most common treatments for localized prostate cancer that is cancer that has not spread beyond the prostate to other organs.