by Colleen Fleiss on August 20, 2023

Recently discovered genes linked to breast cancer may eventually be incorporated into screening tests to detect higher risk levels in women .

Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is a cancer that affects the breasts or mammary glands. Early detection and lifestyle changes help in controlling breast cancer.

Current genetic tests for breast cancer only consider a few genes, such as BRCA1, BRCA2, and PALB2. However, these only explain a minority of the genetic risk, suggesting that more genes remain to be identified.

Unveiling New Breast Cancer Risk Genes to Enhance Prediction and Management

The study found evidence for at least four new breast cancer risk genes, with suggestive evidence for many others. This new knowledge will help improve risk prediction by better identifying those women at higher risk of the disease. This will better inform approaches to breast screening, risk reduction and clinical management.

The discovery of these novel genes also provides crucial information on the biological mechanisms underlying cancer development, potentially opening the way to identifying new treatments.

Quiz on Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths among women. It is often said that a woman who breast-feeds is at a lower risk of developing cancer compared to another who does not .Are these mere old wives tales or is there some truth in it? This quiz on breast cancer has all the details.

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The aim is to integrate this information into a comprehensive risk prediction tool currently used worldwide by health professionals. "Improving genetic counselling for high-risk women will promote shared decision-making regarding risk reduction strategies, screening and determination of treatment options," emphasizes Professor Jacques Simard of Université Laval.

"Although most of the variants identified in these new genes are rare, the risks can be significant for women who carry them. The strength of the study lies in the genetic data that was used for the analysis. Genetic changes in all genes were looked at in 26,000 women with breast cancer and 217,000 women without breast cancer. These included women from eight countries in Europe and Asia.

"To our knowledge, this is the largest study of its kind. It was made possible through the use of data from multiple collaborators in many countries, as well as publicly available data from the UK Biobank," says Professor Douglas Easton, Director of the Centre for Cancer Genetic Epidemiology of the University of Cambridge.

Before this information can be used in a clinical setting, scientists need to validate the results in further datasets. "We need additional data to determine more precisely the risks of cancer associated with variants in these genes, to study the characteristics of the tumors, and to understand how these genetic effects combine with other lifestyle factors affecting breast cancer risks," says Professor Easton. The research team is currently pursuing a large-scale international effort designed for this purpose.

Reference :

  1. Exome sequencing identifies breast cancer susceptibility genes and defines the contribution of coding variants to breast cancer risk -(https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-023-01466-z)