Researchers have identified a new gene linked to ovarian cancer, it was announced today.
The fault in BRIP1 increases a woman’s risk of developing the disease by about three times, according to the British research team.
The fault is thought to affect about 0.1% of women in the UK and increases their risk of ovarian cancer to 58 out of every 1,000.
Victims tend to develop cancer in later life – but also tend to be diagnosed with aggressive disease in its late stages, the researchers say.
The research was undertaken by scientists at Cambridge University and Imperial College and University College, London.
They compared genes from more than 8,000 white European women. These included 2,000 women with a family history of disease, 3,400 women without cancer and 3,250 with the disease.
Researcher Professor Paul Pharaoh, of the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, said: “Our work has found a valuable piece of the puzzle behind ovarian cancer and we hope that our work could eventually form the basis of a genetic test to identify women at greatest risk.
“Finding these women will help us prevent more cancers and save lives. This would be important in a disease like ovarian cancer, which tends to be diagnosed at a late stage when the chances of survival are worse.”
Ramus et al. Mutations in the BRIP1, BARD1, PALB2 and NBN genes in women with ovarian cancer. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 19 January 2016; doi: 10.1093/jnci/djv214
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