A blood test may better identify women at risk of developing breast cancer
It is already known that there are important genes associated with breast cancer, such as BRCA1.
It is known that a mutation in this gene increases the risk of developing breast cancer in Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie, who decided to have a mastectomy.
But now scientists have identified four previously unknown genes, one of which may make women up to five times more likely to develop breast cancer.
The four genes found are called MAP3K1, LZTR1, SAMHD1 and CDKN2A.
Professor Doug Easton, who led the study from the University of Cambridge, said: “The first key genes associated with breast cancer, BRCA1 and BRCA2, were only discovered in the 1990s, so there is still a lot we don’t know. Blood tests are currently offered to women with a family history of breast cancer. Understanding the genetic risk of breast cancer in the NHS is vital, and in the future it may be possible to do it for all women. But even the five most important genes for breast cancer only explain about 10% of the increased risk in women inherited from family members. The four genes we found help explain another 1%, which is a major step forward in finding thousands of women at higher risk for breast cancer and offering them more frequent screening. This will make future genetic tests better and more accurate.”
Study finds at least four new genes associated with breast cancer
The study, published in the journal Nature Genetics, examined the genes of more than 26,000 women with breast cancer and compared those of more than 217,000 women without the disease.
Each gene in the human body is like a book containing instructions for the body to make proteins, but with only four letters—A, G, C, and T—for chemicals.
The researchers were looking for single-letter “mistakes” that would prevent the body from making a protein important in preventing breast cancer, or cause the protein to not work properly.
They estimate that such an error in a gene called MAP3K1 could increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer by five times, although this is rare.
So far, the study, which was conducted with the participation of Laval University in Canada, has identified only four genes, but indicates that as many as 90 new genes may be associated with breast cancer.
Now researchers need to study more women to determine which of these 90 genes are really important.
The four new genes, like those previously discovered, could increase the risk of breast cancer by blocking proteins that either stop cancer cells from growing rapidly or fix DNA errors that can cause tumors to copy.
Source: Daily Mail
