Scientists find new gene links to breast cancer

	Tweet

British scientists have found five common genetic factors linked to the risk of developing breast cancer, giving researchers a better understanding of its causes and clues for developing more treatments.

Douglas Easton from Britain’s University of Cambridge led the largest genome-wide analysis of breast cancer patients to date, scanning the gene maps of 16,536 patients, and found five new common gene variations.

The findings add to 13 other common genetic variants for breast cancer and will help explain around 8 percent of the risk of getting the disease, Easton and colleagues wrote in a study published in the journal Nature Genetics on Sunday.

A few, high-risk gene variants that occur much more rarely account for another 20 percent of breast cancer risk.

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women in rich nations. It kills around half a million people worldwide each year.

Family history is a well-established risk factor. Having a close relative with breast cancer approximately doubles a woman’s risk for the disease.

SOURCE: Nature Genetics, online May 9, 2010.

RELATED STORIES:
Risk of breast cancer mutations underestimated for Asian women, Stanford study shows   Breast Cancer Diagnostic Delay Depended More on Race/Ethnicity than Insurance   Study reveals genetic link between mammographic density and breast cancer   Study suggests newer breast cancer drug may protect heart   Previously unseen switch regulates breast cancer response to estrogen   Yoga gives immune boost to breast cancer survivors   Liposuction: A source for breast augmentation?   Breast Cancer Tumors Grow Faster In Younger Women   Chemotherapy and tamoxifen reduce risk of second breast cancer   Breast Cancer Patients with Diabetes More Likely to Die   Breast Cancer Incidence Among Iraqi Women Profiled   Mayo-led researchers discover genetic variants modifying breast cancer risk   Lasers Illuminate Women’s Health in inaugural open-access journal Biomedical Optics Express   FDA revokes approval of Avastin for breast cancer   MRI cost-effective for some women at high-risk of breast cancer   Art therapy ups breast cancer patients’ well-being   Researchers find new gene linked to breast cancer   GW researchers reveal digital transcriptome of breast cancer   FDA panels put silicone breast implants back under microscope   Researchers Will Test Potentially Cheaper, Less Invasive Breast Cancer Screening   Pregnancy drug doubles risk of breast cancer   Black women often refuse breast cancer treatment

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]