Prognostic Value of BRCA1 and BRCA2 Gene Mutations in Prostate Cancer: a Literature Review

Abstract

Prostate malignancies aggressively grow worldwide frequently occurring inoperable at diagnosis. A proper choice of treatment strategy is currently a challenge. Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer remains fatal and poor-prognosis, albeit the list of chemotherapeutic agents and androgen receptor signalling inhibitors has recently been extending towards a certain therapeutic success. Numerous studies suggest a frequent association of the unfavourable prognosis with germline or somatic damage of DNA repair genes. Such are mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes bearing important clinical implications for the patient outcome through an adverse clinical manifest of primary tumours and poor treatment in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. This review attempts to describe the BRCA1/2 mutations in prostate cancer with a focus on their prognostic value.