Family history is an important factor in risk of prostate cancer. If a first degree relative is diagnosed with prostate cancer before the age of 60, your own risk increases by about four times the average risk. A first degree relative is a father or son.

If for example an uncle, who is a second degree relative, is diagnosed with prostate cancer before the age of 60, your own risk is two times the average risk.

The age of your relative when they develop prostate cancer is very significant. By the age of 80, around half of all men have some cancer cells in their prostate, but they are usually slow-growing and unlikely to cause death.

When prostate cancer develops at a younger age - in forties and fifties - this can be a more aggressive form of the disease which is more likely to spread to other parts of the body.

Therefore, if your father is diagnosed with prostate cancer at the age of 75, it will reflect less of a family risk than if your brother is diagnosed at the age of 53.

However patients often say that when they asked their GP for a PSA test because of concerns about family history, they were treated as the 'worried well.'

Men have reported having to battle to have a PSA test and being warned against it.

Clearly, patients do need to be counselled about the consequences of a PSA test. The identification of slow-growing prostate cancer raises difficult questions about whether and how the prostate should be treated.

However, these choices should rest with the patient and family history needs to be treated as an important resource in our understanding of prostate cancer risk.

Once family history is treated as a resource rather than a bothersome cause of anxiety, we are better able to offer monitoring and assessment and if necessary, enable the patient to make the most informed decision about treatment.

Understanding of the genetic component of prostate cancer is developing through a large, long term study of the genetic changes associated with prostate cancer risk.

The UK Genetic Prostate Cancer Study (UKGPCS), first established in 1993, involves nearly 130 hospitals, 450 Consultants and 200 research nurses. It is based at The Institute of Cancer Research in Sutton, Surrey in collaboration with the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust.

In February 2009, researchers from the project announced they had identified 12 different genes which increase the risk of prostate cancer for the carrier.

This work has the potential to translate into a genetic test to show the risk each individual faces as a result of his genetic variants.

However genetic testing is a highly complex process and it is likely to be several years before an accurate and effective test is available.

Nevertheless, in the meantime, there are steps which can be taken to manage the risk in families with a history of prostate cancer and support individuals.

As the most common form of cancer among men in the UK, the risk of contracting prostate cancer is a very real one. With pioneering treatments and continuing developments in the methods with which the condition is detected, survival rates are increasing year on year.

If you have reason to believe that you may have prostate cancer, perhaps due to the diagnosis of a family member, make sure you get yourself checked out. Early diagnosis can be absolutely critical, so the sooner you get tested, the better your long-term chances may be.