In 1994, a landmark paper identified a gene – BRCA1 – that significantly increases the risk of breast and ovarian cancers when faulty. Thirty years on, we look at the major impact it has had on how we understand and treat cancer – and why there is still much to learn.
Survivors of breast cancer are at significantly higher risk of developing second cancers, including endometrial and ovarian cancer for women and prostate cancer for men, according to new research studying data from almost 600,000 patients in England.
Cambridge scientists have created a comprehensive tool for predicting an individual’s risk of developing prostate cancer, which they say could help ensure that those men at greatest risk will receive the appropriate testing while reducing unnecessary – and potentially invasive – testing for those at very low risk.
Faulty versions of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are well known to increase the risk of breast cancer in men and women, and in ovarian cancer. Now BRCA1 and BRCA2 have been linked to several other cancers, including those that affect men.
A genetic study in Asian women, led by Malaysian scientists in collaboration with Singapore and the University of Cambridge, has revealed that a genetic tool developed to help assess breast cancer risk in European women also works in Asian women. This could help address the rising incidence of breast cancer in Asia.
Scientists have created the most comprehensive method yet to predict a woman’s risk of breast cancer, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Cambridge. The study, funded by Cancer Research, is published today in Genetics in Medicine.
A large scale study of women carrying faults in important cancer genes should enable doctors to provide better advice and counselling for treatments and lifestyle changes aimed at reducing this risk.
Over 80 regions of the genome that can increase an individual’s risk of breast, prostate and ovarian cancers have been found in the largest ever study of its kind.
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