Do My Genes Impact my Risk for Prostate Cancer?

Genetic Counselors and You

According to the American Cancer Society, other than skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in American men. In fact, 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime. (ACS) What factors increase my risk for prostate cancer? Family history? What can I do?

In this episode, we invited Joy Larsen Haidle, a board-certified genetic counselor, to share her thoughts.

Joy is leader in cancer genetic counseling who has authored several practice guidelines and published articles on topics such as Lynch syndrome, a disease that increases one’s risk for cancers, particularly of the colon and rectum; and juvenile polyposis, a disorder characterized by polyps in the gastrointestinal tract. She also was on this podcast 2 years ago! A past president of National Society of Genetic Counselor, Joy is a genetic counselor at North Memorial Health Cancer Center in Robbinsdale, Minn.

NOTE: Please note that during this podcast the use of the word "male" is used to refer to cisgeneder males

Resources

For more information on the topics discussed in this episode, visit https://www.aboutgeneticcounselors.org/ and the following webpages:

• Prostate Cancer: Do I need genetic testing?
• I Want to See a Genetic Counselor: How Do I Make That Happen?
• https://www.cancer.org/cancer/prostate-cancer/about/key-statistics.html
• NCCN Prostate Cancer Early Detection v2.2021 (Accessed 8/23/21)