Researchers make breast cancer breakthrough

Published: May 28, 2007 | 6296th good news item since 2003

SCIENTISTS have made a massive leap towards identifying the roots of hereditary breast cancer after a groundbreaking study picked up new genes which can increase the risk of the disease.

Until now, it was not known which genes cause 75 per cent of inherited breast cancer, which affects thousands of British women every year.

But the Cambridge-based study, published online in the Nature journal, found four genes that can increase a woman’s chances of developing the disease.

They have never previously been linked to inherited breast cancer and are responsible for another four per cent of inherited cases, equating to between 88 and 176 women a year.

Scientists believe the discovery is the first step towards finding many more breast cancer genes, and the same research method is already being applied to several other cancers.

Professor Douglas Easton, director of Cancer Research UK’s genetic epidemiology unit in Cambridge, said:

“This opens the door to new research directions.”

Published in Science & Technology
See also: news.scotsman.com