Movember Prostate Cancer Awareness: Understand Your Genetic Risk and Take Action Early

Prostate cancer awareness is critical every month of the year

Every November is a time to remind men* that their health matters. But Movember is more than a mustache—it’s a chance to know your risk, take action, and prioritize early detection. Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers in men, and early detection can save lives. Movember is the perfect time to pause, assess your personal risk, and have meaningful conversations about your health.

The importance of early detection

About 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, and The American Cancer Society estimates 313,780 new cases in 2025¹. While most prostate cancers have a high survival rate when detected early, prostate cancer remains the second leading cause of cancer death among American men. Early detection not only improves treatment options, but also significantly increases the chances of survival^1,2.

Traditional prostate cancer screening methods come with limitations

Today, prostate cancer screening typically begins with shared decision-making between patients and their healthcare providers. This approach allows men to weigh the potential benefits and risks of screening, usually starting with a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test and sometimes a digital rectal exam (DRE)^3-6.

Screening offers important benefits, but it also has limitations. PSA results can be influenced by non-cancer factors, which may lead to false positives that prompt unnecessary biopsies and/or anxiety¹. Beyond age, ancestry, and family history, it can be difficult to determine who might benefit from earlier or more frequent screening. Additionally, many men don’t know their family history, or it may be incomplete or unreliable. Without a full understanding of risk, shared decision-making can feel uncertain and incomplete. 

How genetic testing can clarify your prostate cancer risk 

Personalized screening starts with understanding your individual risk. Some factors, including age, family history, and ancestry, are straightforward to assess. But genetics often reveal hidden risk that can have a major impact.

Approximately 60% of prostate cancer risk is heritable⁷. While some men carry high-risk variants in specific genes that significantly increase risk, most men with prostate cancer (up to 95%) do not have these high-risk mutations. Yet many still have elevated risk due to "polygenic factors", or the combined effect of many common genetic variants that individually contribute relatively little to risk, but together can meaningfully increase disease risk⁸.

Genomics powers smarter prostate cancer screening

Shared decision-making becomes far more powerful when genetic risk is part of the picture. MyOme provides a comprehensive approach by offering the:

• Proactive Health Single Gene Risk Test, which identifies men with variants in high-risk genes (e.g. BRCA1, BRCA2, HOXB13) who may benefit from earlier or more intensive screening.
  
  
• Integrated Polygenic Risk Score (iPRS) for Prostate Cancer, which quantifies inherited risk by combining common genetic variants with clinical factors like age and family history.
  
  

Importantly, MyOme’s data show that genetics can uncover risk not visible through family history alone. Using the MyOme iPRS, 8.6% of men with no family history of prostate cancer were identified as high-risk. This group had a 3x higher prostate cancer incidence compared to men identified as not at increased risk⁹.

This integrated risk assessment provides a clearer, more actionable picture of prostate cancer risk, helping men and their providers make smarter, personalized screening decisions, even when traditional risk factors suggest otherwise.

Proactive Men's Health; Guided by Genetic Insights

Men deserve personalized health guidance, not one-size-fits-all advice. Understanding genetic risk empowers men to make confident choices about their health and take proactive steps.

Movember is the perfect time to start the conversation with your doctor, your family, or your friends. Speak to your doctor about how genetic testing can help you make smarter decisions together.

*MyOme recognizes and respects the diversity of gender identities. In this post, “men” is used to refer to individuals assigned male at birth.

References

1. American Cancer Society. Prostate Cancer. Accessed Nov 2025. https://www.cancer.org/cancer/types/prostate-cancer.html.
2. National Cancer Institute. Cancer stat facts: prostate cancer. Accessed Nov 2025. https://seer.cancer.gov/ statfacts/html/prost.html.
   
3. Tuffaha H, Edmunds K, Fairbairn D, et al. Guidelines for genetic testing in prostate cancer: a scoping review. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis. 2024;27:594–603.
4. Wei JT, Barocas D, Carlsson S, et al. Early detection of prostate cancer: AUA/SUO guideline part I. J Urol. 2023;210(1):45–53.
5. Smith RA, Andrews KS, Brooks D, et al. Cancer screening in the United States, 2019: A review of current American Cancer Society guidelines. CA Cancer J Clin. 2019;69(3):184–210.
6. U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Screening for Prostate Cancer: Recommendation Statement. JAMA. 2018;319(18):1901–1913.
7. Mucci, LA, Hjelmborg, JB, Harris, JR, et al. Familial risk and heritability of cancer among twins in Nordic countries. JAMA 2016;315:68-76
8. National Cancer Institute. Genetics of Prostate Cancer (PDQ®)–Health Professional Version. Accessed Nov 2025
9. MyOme Internal Data on File.