ATM Gene and Breast Cancer
For all the talk about genes responsible for breast cancer, the majority of women who develop the disease do not inherit it. According to the National Human Genome Research Institute, “estimates of the incidence of hereditary breast cancer range from between 5 to 10 percent to as many as 27 percent of all breast cancers.” For these families, genetic testing for specific cancer-causing mutations that are being passed down from generation to generation makes sense. For the rest of us, these genes will tell us more about how breast cancer develops and help researchers develop new treatments.
One gene that has been under scrutiny for its role in breast cancer is the ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) gene. A recent study has found that women who carry the ATM mutations that also cause ataxia-telangiectasia are:
- Twice as likely to develop breast cancer.
- At higher risk of developing breast cancer by age 70 (1 in
126) than those who don’t (1 in612).
It’s estimated that half to one percent of the general population carry a single faulty copy of the ATM gene which is normally involved in DNA-repair.
Professor Michael Stratton, from The Institute of Cancer Research and The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute:
Inherited risk of breast cancer is probably caused by a combination of genes, so our work is now focused on finding out what other genetic factors are at play that cause around 15 per cent of female ATM carriers to go on to develop breast cancer.
In addition to genes, environmental exposures and lifestyle factors are also involved in the pathogenesis of breast cancer.
For more about cancer, visit our sister b5media blog: Cancer Commentary.
Medical News Today, July 17, 2006
Technorati Tags: breast cancer, cancer, breast, disease, health, illness, genetics, genes, dna
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POSTED IN: Genetics of Disease
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3 opinions for ATM Gene and Breast Cancer
Marie Godfrey
Jul 19, 2006 at 12:44 pm
One in 12 seems to be a lower risk than one in six. Is there an error in:
“At higher risk of developing breast cancer by age 70 (1 in 12) than those who don’t (1 in 6).”
Hsien Hsien Lei, PhD
Jul 19, 2006 at 1:40 pm
Marie: Thanks for catching that, Marie! I’ve corrected the error.
Tom
Jul 24, 2006 at 8:17 am
After reading this article i thought of giving a comment about cancer and to share it with other readers. Cancer is a class of diseases or disorders characterized by uncontrolled division of cells and the ability of these cells to invade other tissues, either by direct growth into adjacent tissue through invasion or by implantation into distant sites by metastasis. Cancer occurs either by the implantation into isolated sites by metastasis or by the direct growth into contiguous tissue through invasion.
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