Scientists have identified a new genetic basis for breast cancer in a discovery that promises to radically change the way men and women can be screened for the many cancers that can be triggered by faulty genes.
The researchers have discovered mutations in the DNA of four genes that they believe play a small yet significant role in triggering breast cancer in women.
The discovery could lead to new methods of targeting younger women at higher-than-average risk of breast cancer so that they could be screened with mammography before they reach 50 - the age when routine breast screening now begins.
Unlike other genetic variations associated with familial breast cancer, the mutations in these four new genes are relatively common in the population and appear to form part of a bigger community of genes that play a role in breast-cancer predisposition.
However, the wider significance of the genetic discovery is that it brings the day closer when anyone's genome - the entire DNA blueprint - can be screened for the many hundreds of genes that are believed to increase susceptibility to a wide range of cancers. Continue to the full story from source.
The researchers have discovered mutations in the DNA of four genes that they believe play a small yet significant role in triggering breast cancer in women.
The discovery could lead to new methods of targeting younger women at higher-than-average risk of breast cancer so that they could be screened with mammography before they reach 50 - the age when routine breast screening now begins.
Unlike other genetic variations associated with familial breast cancer, the mutations in these four new genes are relatively common in the population and appear to form part of a bigger community of genes that play a role in breast-cancer predisposition.
However, the wider significance of the genetic discovery is that it brings the day closer when anyone's genome - the entire DNA blueprint - can be screened for the many hundreds of genes that are believed to increase susceptibility to a wide range of cancers. Continue to the full story from source.
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