Do you have a relative with breast cancer? According to new research, you might want to be tested, even if you’re a man.

According to the Associated Press, doctors are encouraging men to consider getting tested for genes that raise the risk of breast cancer. Male relatives of women with the genes often do not realize that they may also carry them, not to mention face greater odds of developing male breast cancer, as well as prostate, pancreatic and skin cancer, the new research suggests.

Dr. Mary Daly of Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia conducted a small study after seeing breast cancer in several male patients who did not know they were at risk, AP said. She is now trying to convince more fathers, sons and brothers of women with the genes to get tested, but says very few of them want to.

Breast cancer is the most common major cancer in American women. More than 178,000 new cases, and more than 40,000 deaths from it, are expected in the U.S. this year.  But men get it, too. According to the American Cancer Society, about 2,030 cases of breast cancer in men are estimated to occur this year, accounting for about 1 percent of all breast cancer cases.  About 450 of these male cases will prove fatal, AP says.

The BRCA-1 or BRCA-2 genes increase the risk of breast cancer and are most prevalent among those of Eastern European Jewish descent. When found in men, they double the normal risk of prostate cancer, triple the risk of pancreatic cancer and make breast cancer seven times more likely to develop, AP reported.

Daly surveyed 24 close blood relatives of women who had tested positive for one of these genes and had told their male kin the results, as part of a larger study on perceptions of genetic risk. Six men said they hadn’t been told, or had forgotten. Of the other 18, two mistakenly said the test had been negative. Seven did not think the results revealed anything about their own cancer risk, while only five understood that they might carry the genes. Of the six who expressed any interest in being tested themselves, three said they were doing so mostly for their children’s sake, AP said.

Women also need to realize they are doing male relatives and their descendants a favor when they reveal their own genetic risk from BRCA genes.

“They don’t realize they are at risk,” or that their grandchildren may be, Daly told AP.