 [ Symptoms ] is prostate cancer hereditary [ Disease ] prostate cancer can have a significant hereditary component men whose fathers brothers uncles grandfathers have had prostate cancer they are at a significantly higher risk for prostate cancer the majority of men who were diagnosed though do not have it in the family so just because your father uncle brother does not have it does not mean you are free and clear but if he does have it then your risks are higher and you just need to be more diligent when you see your doctor it is essential that when you go to the doctor you are at a higher risk that you want a prostate exam and you want the psa blood test many doctors even aware of that still are reluctant to do a prostate exam because not only is it uncomfortable for a few seconds to have some strange doctor do the exam but the doctors do not enjoy it either so a lot of doctors unfortunately will spend hours listening to every body part and probing every orifice except they will not do a prostate exam so you almost have to insist on it well that will be something most men will not do sm it is unfortunate that they do not but they need to it may be life or death and not only does a rectal exam identify prostate nodules or irregularities but rectal cancers recently there was a celebrity on the news about anal cancer rectal and anal cancers are very deadly when not picked up early and it is so easy to detect that it is almost disastrous when the doctor does not do the exam so when you go to the doctor you need to have an understanding of what it is you expect otherwise why are you even there reviewed by brunilda nazario md