Hi there! Thank you for your question. To answer your question, no not all cancers are inherited. Most cancers are caused by random gene mutation that develop during our lifetime. They may happen because we are exposed to carcinogens (eg. cigarette smoke and sunlight).

These gene changes are not inherited and don’t run in the family (acquired mutations). Cancers caused by them are called sporadic cancers. Although, there are some genes mutation (eg. genes in an egg or sperm cell) that increase the risk of cancer can run in the family. These are called inherited cancer genes. Being born with one inherited faulty gene doesn’t mean that a person will definitely get cancer but they have a higher risk of having cancer compared to other people. This is known as genetic predisposition to cancer.

For a cancer to develop, further gene changes (mutations) need to happen. This usually happens over many years. The strength of your family history depends on whiich family member has the cancer and the age when they were diagnosed

As for the second part of your question, the symptoms of prostate cancers include urine hesitancy, poor flow of urine, intermittent stream (flow that stops and starts during urination), dribbling after urinating, the sensation of not completely urinated eventhough there is no more urine, increase frequency of urination, unable to control your urination, peeing yourself without you realizing, increase urination at night, bone/joint pain, anaemia (dizziness, tiredness), loss of weight and appetite, genital swelling and most of the time its asymptomatic.

Prostate health is screened using physical examination (digital rectal examination), a blood test that measures Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) and ultrasound/biopsy. The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) does not recommend routine PSA screening for men without symptoms. PSA screening is only done if they are above 50 years old, have a family history of prostate cancer or have the symptoms mentioned above.

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