British researchers have found a genetic variant underlying the development of breast cancer in young women, it was announced today.
The Southampton University scientists have identified single nucleotide polymorphisms in the gene ADAMTSL1 as increasing the risk of disease progression in young patients with the disease.
The findings are reported today in Nature Communications and involved researchers in Finland, Germany, Australia, Singapore and the USA.
Researcher Dr William Tapper said: "This is a significant discovery with exciting implications for the future diagnosis and treatment of early-onset breast cancer patients.
"Our findings increase our understanding of the genes and pathways that are involved in breast cancer prognosis, and may provide new targets for the development of novel therapies.
"In the short to medium-term, this genetic factor may be used to improve prognostic models. In the long-term, when more is known about the mechanism underlying this association and its relationship with treatment response, it may have an influence on approaches to the most effective breast cancer treatments."
Germline variation in ADAMTSL1 is associated with prognosis following breast cancer treatment in young women Nature Communications 15 December 2017; doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-01775-y
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