title: Decreasing age at prostate cancer diagnosis over successive generations in prostate cancer families.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The decline in age at prostate cancer diagnosis over the past decade is partially attributable to prostate specific antigen (PSA) screening. We examined age at diagnosis over successive generations within prostate cancer families.
  
  
  METHODS
  Families with at least two affected men were selected from the University of Michigan Prostate Cancer Genetics Project. The 1,345 individuals from 489 families were grouped into three generations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Risk of prostate cancer diagnosis at a given age was estimated to increase 1.31 (95% CI: 1.13-1.51) times from one generation to the next. Among men diagnosed prior to the PSA era, inferences were similar (hazard ratio = 1.28, 95% CI: 0.97-1.68). No maternal versus paternal disease transmission effect was observed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Age at prostate cancer diagnosis was observed to decrease over successive generations in families from an ongoing familial prostate cancer study. This finding, if confirmed, may have important implications for familial prostate cancer risk assessment.
authors.affiliation: Wayne State University School of Medicine, Karmanos Cancer Institute, Detroit, Michigan 48201, USA. bockc@med.wayne.edu
authors.forename: Cathryn H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Bock
authors.forename: Patricia A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Peyser
authors.forename: James E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Montie
authors.forename: Kathleen A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Cooney
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D017668:Age of Onset; D000368:Aged; D005192:Family Health; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000235:genetics; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics*; D018570:Risk Assessment
chemical_list: D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen