Washington, Feb 23 ( ANI ): Scientists have discovered a new gene that may
increase the risk of breast cancer.
In the study from Finland, mutations
in this gene, called Abraxas, were linked to cases of hereditary breast cancer.
Researchers have now identified more than 10 genes that increase breast
cancer risk; perhaps the most well-known of these are the BRCA
BRCA
One of two genes (designated BRCA1 and
BRCA2) that help repair damage to DNA, but when inherited in a defective state
increase the risk of breast and ovarian cancer. 1 and BRCA2 genes.
But only about 20 percent of women with a family history of breast
cancer have mutations in BRAC1 or BRAC2 - meaning in many cases, it's likely
other genes are at work.
The mutation does not appear to be common - it
was found in 2.4 percent of families with a history of breast cancer. But
importantly, the mutation was not found in anyone without breast cancer in the
study.
Because the study was conducted in Finland, future studies will
need to investigate how common the mutation is in other countries, said study
researcher Roger Greenberg, an associate professor of cancer biology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine The University of Pennsylvania's School of Medicine, presently
located in the University City section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was the
United States's first school of medicine, founded at the College of
Philadelphia, as the University was then called. .
In the future,
women with a family history of breast cancer might be tested for the Abraxas
mutation, Greenbergsaid.
Greenberg and colleagues found the Abraxas
mutation in three of 125 breast cancer patients from families with a history of
the condition.
This gene had been suspected to play a role in breast
cancer risk because it interacts with BRCA1.
When the researchers looked
at an additional 991 breast cancer patients, they found the Abraxas mutation in
one woman, who also turned out to have breast cancer in her family.
None
of the 868 healthy patients in the study had the Abraxas mutation.
The
mutated Abraxas gene prevents cells from fixing damaged DNA: see nucleic acid.
DNA
or deoxyribonucleic acid
One of two types of
nucleic acid (the other is RNA); a complex organic compound found in all living
cells and many viruses. It is the chemical substance of genes. ,
increasing the risk that a cell will become cancerous. The gene may increase the
risk of other cancers as well.
Indeed, one patient in the study was
diagnosed with both breast and endometrial cancer, and some patients with the
Abraxas mutation had family members with lung cancer, lip cancer and lymphoma.
More research is needed to know exactly how much of an increase in
breast cancer risk the Abraxas mutation brings. But Greenberg noted women in the
study with this mutation were diagnosed around the same age as those with BRCA1
and BRCA2 mutations - in their mid-40s.
Women with a mutation in BRCA1
or BRCA2 are about five times more likely to develop breast cancer in their
lifetimes compared with women who do not have this mutation, according to the
National Cancer Institute.
"Identifying more of these mutations will
make it easier for patients to know their risk of developing breast cancer,"
said Dr. Kristin Byrne, chief of breast imaging at Lenox Hill Hospital Lenox Hill
Hospital, on Manhattan's Upper East Side, is a 652-bed, acute care hospital
and a major teaching affiliate of NYU Medical Center. Founded in 1857 as the
German Dispensary, today's 10-building Lenox Hill Hospital complex has occupied
its present site since 1868 when it in New York
City New York City: see New
York, city.
New York City
City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York,
at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , who was
not involved in the study.
Such genetic information may even help
doctors better diagnose breast cancer. Most patients with the Abraxas mutation
in the study had a type of breast cancer called lobular carcinoma, which is
harder to detect on a mammogram. Knowing that a patient has this mutation might
mean doctors use additional screening methods, such as MRI 1. (application) MRI - Magnetic Resonance
Imaging.
2. MRI - Measurement Requirements and Interface.
, Dr Byrne added.
The study has been published in the journal
Science Translational Medicine. ( ANI )
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