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 survival1,2.
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.
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.
Shared decision-making becomes far more powerful when genetic risk is part of the picture. MyOme provides a comprehensive approach by offering the:
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.
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.