Originally published October 31 2005
Gene discovery could boost the effectiveness of breast cancer screenings
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Dr. Jay Brooks, chairman of hematology/oncology at the Ochsner Clinic Foundation in Baton Rouge, La., discusses the discovery of the CHEK2 gene, which could be used in breast cancer screening.
Family members of women who have had cancer in both breasts and who carry a damaged version of the CHEK2 gene are at a greatly increased risk of developing breast cancer, according to a new study.
"This gene might have a use as a screening tool for other family members," said Dr. Jay Brooks, chairman of hematology/oncology at the Ochsner Clinic Foundation in Baton Rouge, La.
The discovery of the CHEK2 gene was first announced in a paper in 2002, noted Lesley Walker, director of cancer information at Cancer Research UK, which helped sponsor the study.
According to the National Cancer Institute, women with an altered BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene are three to seven times more likely to develop breast cancer.
Experts believe that family histories of breast cancer not accounted for by BRCA 1 or 2 can be explained by the existence of groups of genes that may each confer a low risk, but work together to increase the odds for malignancy.
"Scientists have been casting around trying to decide who should be tested for CHEK2 and that's been difficult because it's a relatively low risk in the general population and it's a rare gene," Walker said.
The authors of this paper wanted to determine the risk of breast cancer in relatives of women who had the damaged CHEK2 gene and a history of cancer in both breasts, called bilateral breast cancer.
To that end, they tested 469 women with bilateral breast cancer for this specific CHEK2 variant.
They then looked at the incidence of breast cancer, prostate cancer and other cancers in all first-degree relatives of women with or without the variant.
"Those families could help us find other low-risk genes or moderate-risk genes that could be important," Walker said.
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