Major new genetic findings revealed last night may help to improve treatment of two cancers that afflict women – after being discovered separately in two neighbouring university laboratories.
One finding identifies a "second" genetic region which works with the first known breast cancer gene, BRCA1.
The region, known as 19p13, is one of five also linked to ovarian cancer in reports published by Nature Genetics.
It was discovered by scientists working at Cancer Research UK’s genetic epidemiology unit at Cambridge University in two separate research projects.
One team was searching for breast cancer genes while the other was looking for genes for cancer of the ovaries.
Breast cancer researcher Dr Antonis Antoniou said: "We’ve found a DNA region that acts like a volume control – to turn up or down the risk of developing breast cancer from faults in the BRCA1 gene.
"Our discovery is the first step in a much larger study to identify genetic factors that modify breast cancer risk in women carrying BRCA1 mutations, and ultimately could help assess the risk for each woman and monitor for the disease.”
The researchers say the genetic region is also linked to increased risk of developing some kinds of breast cancer even when BRCA1 is not faulty.
Dr Lesley Walker, of Cancer Research UK, said: "We’re dedicated to unravelling cancer risk so we can provide doctors with better tools to identify who is at risk and help select the best treatment.
"This research provides evidence that by carrying out genome wide association studies in certain subgroups – such as people with BRCA1 mutations – we can identify other breast and ovarian cancer risk factors which have previously been missed."
Ovarian cancer researcher Dr Paul Pharoah, also of Cambridge University, said: "I think that the most important message women can take away from this work is that we are making progress in understanding ovarian cancer.
"We are slowly but clearly leading toward a time when we will be able to draw an individualised profile of a woman’s risk of ovarian cancer and respond with appropriate prevention and treatment options."
Nature Genetics September 20 2010
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