This morning the NY Times reported a new test developed by researchers at Wake Forest U.that can help predict a man's risk of getting Prostate Cancer.

It tests a combination of common and minor variants in five regions of DNA and will be available in a few months at around $300 or less. The greater the number of variants in the group of five regions the greater the risk of getting Prostate Cancer up to a 4.5 fold increased risk above that of men without any of the variants. Only 2% of the men in the study had all five variants but the range was pretty substantial. If the men in the highest group had a family history of P.C. there risk was 10 times higher than the lowest risk group.

It went on to say this may reduce the age men want to screened from the present recommended age of 50 down to 35.

Boy, will this fuel the debate of over treatment vs under treatment and add to the number of early stage cancers diagnosed and treated. It will also increase the number of men facing the dillemma of whether to elect the option of Active Surveillance