What Is The Breast Cancer Gene

This Breast Cancer Gene Is Less Well Known But Nearly As Dangerous

PALB2 is not as well known as BRCA, but mutations of the gene can raise a womans risk for breast cancer almost as much.

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For years, women with breast cancer in their families have been getting tested for mutations in two genes, known as BRCA1 and BRCA2, to determine whether they have a sharply elevated risk of the disease.

Now, doctors are increasingly recommending that anyone who was tested before 2014 go through genetic testing again to look for a different mutation, one much less widely known.

Its on a gene called PALB2, and people who have the mutation have almost as great a risk of getting breast cancer as those who have the BRCA mutations. Like the BRCA mutations, this mutation also increases a patients risk of ovarian and pancreatic cancer.

Anyone who gets a genetic test for breast cancer now will likely be screened for PALB2 mutations, which were found in 2014 to significantly raise breast cancer risk. But many patients screened before 2014 were not tested for it and may have a false sense of security if they were found to be free of the BRCA mutations, breast cancer experts said.

Even now, few patients have heard of the gene, while BRCA is familiar to many.

My doctor said he was happy I didnt even wait a month or two, Ms. Karnick said. I needed no chemo or radiation.

What Is Hereditary Breast And Ovarian Cancer

A diagnosis of Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Syndrome is considered when there are multiple cases of breast cancer and/or ovarian cancer on the same side of the family. The chance that a family has HBOC increases in any of these situations:

• 1 or more women are diagnosed at age 45 or younger

• 1 or more women are diagnosed with breast cancer before age 50 with an additional family history of cancer, such as prostate cancer, melanoma, and pancreatic cancer

• There are breast and/or ovarian cancers in multiple generations on the same side of the family, such as having both a grandmother and an aunt on the fathers side both diagnosed with these cancers

• A woman is diagnosed with a second breast cancer in the same or the other breast or has both breast and ovarian cancers

• A male relative is diagnosed with breast cancer

• There is a history of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, and/or pancreatic cancer on the same side of the family

• Having Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry

Patient Model Systems For Breast And Ovarian Cancer

The initial patient trials of p53 and BRCA1 gene therapy demonstrated the potential for gene therapy, but also clearly demonstrated both basic and clinical research that is needed before these therapies can be successful in patients. Initial human clinical trials of BRCA1 retroviral gene therapy taught us that the approach was safe, but that healthy patients developed immune responses towards retroviral vector therapy that decreased vector stability and presumably prevented response. Based on this prior experience, we have redesigned our current human trials to employ a more immune-resistant MFG-based retroviral vector that is packaged in human producer cells. These trials should demonstrate whether this new generation of human cell-produced retroviral vector is more stable in the healthier patients with small volume disease. Because breast and ovarian cancers exhibit significant biologic and genetic similarities, gene therapies may be initially tested in the setting of ovarian cancer, employing peritoneal injection, and then ultimately tested in a more relevant breast cancer human disease model. Both types of patient model will be described in the following discussion.

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How Are Brca1 And Brca2 Genetic Mutations Passed Down Through A Family

BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic mutations can be passed from a mother or father to a son or daughter.

People with a first-degree relative with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation have a 50% chance of having inherited themutation.

Mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes have been found in people all over the world. However, some genetic mutations may be more common in certain ancestral groups. For example, three BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic mutations are particularly common among Ashkenazi Jewish families. Ashkenazi Jewish families typically have origins in Eastern Europe. One in 40 Ashkenazi Jewish individuals carry one of these common BRCA mutations.

Through MSKs RISE Program, our experts help people who have an increased risk of breast cancer shape personalized long-term surveillance plans.

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What To Do If You’re Worried

Speak to a GP if cancer runs in your family and you’re worried you may get it too. They may refer you to a local genetics service for an NHS genetic test, which will tell you if you have inherited one of the cancer risk genes.

This type of testing is known as predictive genetic testing. It’s “predictive” because a positive result means you have a greatly increased risk of developing cancer. It does not mean you have cancer or are definitely going to develop it.

You may be eligible for this NHS test if the faulty gene has already been identified in one of your relatives, or if there is a strong family history of cancer in your family.

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Family History Of Breast Cancer And Inherited Genes

Some people have a higher risk of developing breast cancer than the general population because other members of their family have had particular cancers. This is called a family history of cancer.

Having a mother, sister or daughter diagnosed with breast cancer approximately doubles the risk of breast cancer. This risk is higher when more close relatives have breast cancer, or if a relative developed breast cancer under the age of 50. But most women who have a close relative with breast cancer will never develop it.

UK guidelines help GPs to identify people who might have an increased risk of cancer due to their family history.

Who Should Consider Genetic Counseling And Testing For Brca1 And Brca2 Variants

Anyone who is concerned about the possibility that they may have a harmful variant in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene should discuss their concerns with their health care provider or a genetic counselor.

Tests are available to see if someone has inherited a harmful variant in BRCA1 and BRCA2. However, testing is not currently recommended for the general public. Instead, expert groups recommend that testing be focused on those who have a higher likelihood of carrying a harmful BRCA1 or BRCA2 variant, such as those who have a family history of certain cancers. Testing can be appropriate for both people without cancer as well as people who have been diagnosed with cancer. If someone knows they have a mutation in one of these genes, they can take steps to reduce their risk or detect cancer early. And if they have cancer, the information about their mutation may be important for selecting treatment.

Before testing is done, a person will usually have a risk assessment, in which they meet with a genetic counselor or other health care provider to review factors such as which of their relatives had cancer, what cancers they had, and at what ages they were diagnosed. If this assessment suggests that someone has an increased risk of carrying a harmful BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene variant, their genetic counselor can discuss the benefits and harms of testing with them and order the appropriate genetic test, if the individual decides to have genetic testing .

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How Does Breast Cancer Start

Breast cancer starts when cells in the breast begin to divide and grow in an abnormal way.

All cells contain genes that tell them how to grow and function. Sometimes a change can occur in a gene that means the cells begin to function in an abnormal way. This is known as an altered gene .

Altered genes can be either inherited or acquired.

• Inherited altered genes are passed down from one of our parents.
• Acquired altered genes develop due to a combination of things such as getting older and environmental and lifestyle factors.

Although breast cancer is very common, only a small percentage of cases are due to inheriting an altered gene.

For more information on genes and cancer see the Cancer Research UK website.

Talking About Family Health History With Your Health Care Provider

Your family history of breast cancer and other health conditions is important to discuss with your health care provider. This information helps them understand your risk of breast cancer.

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Other Inherited Gene Mutations

In addition to BRCA1 and BRCA2 inherited gene mutations, other inherited gene mutations increase the risk of breast cancer. Some also increase the risk of other cancers.

These gene mutations are less common than BRCA1/2 mutations and theres still much to learn about them.

Some of these mutations are linked to a high or moderate risk of breast cancer . The lifetime risk of breast cancer is increased 20-49 percent for women with moderate-risk gene mutations and 50 percent or higher for women with high-risk gene mutations.

The table below provides a summary of high-risk and moderate-risk inherited gene mutations. Some of these gene mutations have only recently been shown to increase the risk of breast cancer. Data on these mutations and their related cancer risks are still emerging and will likely change over time.

In general, having a mutation in any of these genes leads to special breast cancer screening recommendations.

Some gene mutations are related to certain breast cancers. For example, women who have a BRCA1 gene mutation tend to get breast cancers that are triple negative . And, CDH1 gene mutations appear to be related more often to invasive lobular breast cancers rather than invasive ductal breast cancers .

What Causes Breast Cancer

Most breast cancers are caused by a combination of many different things

While the exact causes are still unknown, research has shown that some things can increase or decrease the likelihood of getting breast cancer. These are called ‘risk factors’. Being a woman and getting older are the biggest risk factors for developing breast cancer.

A small number of people have an increased risk of developing breast cancer because they have a significant family history. This may be because an altered gene that increases the risk of breast cancer runs in the family.

If you are worried about your family history you may be able to have a family history risk assessment.

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Other Cancer Risks For People With Hboc

Anyone with mutations in the BRCA2 gene may be at an increased risk of other types of cancer, including melanoma and pancreatic, stomach, esophageal, and bile duct cancers.Mutations in other genes may be associated with an increased risk of developing breast and other cancers, including the Li-Fraumeni syndrome , Cowden syndrome, and others. The pattern of cancers in the family is often a clue to the specific gene that may explain the hereditary cancer for that family. Multigene panels are available for people with a strong personal and family history of cancer. Multigene panel tests include BRCA1 and BRCA2 and many other genes that increase the risk of breast, ovarian, and other cancers. If your BRCA1 and BRCA2 test was negative, then you may or may not have mutations in other genes. A newer type of testing, called next generation sequencing, massively parallel sequencing, or deep sequencing, has made testing for multiple genes at the same time faster and less expensive. If a genetic mutation is found, this could explain the cancers in a specific family and provide information about who is at risk and the appropriate types of monitoring and prevention/risk reduction methods.

Breast Cancer In Families

If you or one of your close relatives has been diagnosed with breast cancer, you may have concerns about whether breast cancer runs in the family .

A small number of people have an increased risk of breast cancer because of their family history. However, most breast cancers are not inherited and do not increase the lifetime risk for other family members.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK, so even if you have a relative with breast cancer, it doesnt necessarily mean youre more likely to develop it yourself.

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Functional Enrichment And Pathway Analysis

BC patients were divided into the high- and low-risk groups based on the median risk score, Gene Ontology 12 and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes 13 pathway enrichment analyses for all selected DEGs between the two risks. Cohorts were performed with the clusterProfiler package in BioConductor using |log2FC|1 and FDR < 0.05 as thresholds. Then, we determined the scores of 16 tumor-infiltrating immune cells and 13 immune-related functions for samples by ssGSEA. Bioconductor R package GSVA was used to compare ssGSEA enrichment scores for immune cells and immune-related pathways between the two groups .14 Finally, correlations between the risk signature and the key immune regulators, PD-L1 and PD-L2 were evaluated.

Hereditary Breast And Ovarian Cancer

About 5% to 10% of breast and 10% to 15% of ovarian cancers are hereditary. Hereditary cancer means cancer runs in your family, and could be caused by a change in certain genes that you inherited from your mother or father.

Genes act as instructions and contain information to build and maintain cells in the body. Humans inherit one set of genes from their mother and one set of genes from their father.

Genes are made up of DNA. DNA tells the body what traits will be passed on from parents to children, such as blood type, hair color, eye color, and risks of getting certain diseases.

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Genetic Counseling And Testing For Breast Cancer Risk

Some people inherit changes in certain genes that increase their risk of breast cancer . Genetic testing can look for mutations in some of these genes. While it can be helpful in some cases, not everyone needs to be tested, and each person should carefully consider the pros and cons of testing. Its very important to understand what genetic testing can and cant tell you before these tests are done.

What Do We Know About Hereditary Breast Cancer In Ashkenazi Jews

In 1995 and 1996, studies of DNA samples revealed that Ashkenazi Jews are 10 times more likely to have mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA 2 genes than the general population. Approximately 2.65 percent of the Ashkenazi Jewish population has a mutation in these genes, while only 0.2 percent of the general population carries these mutations.

Further research showed that three specific mutations in these genes accounted for 90 percent of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 variants within this ethnic group. This contrasts with hundreds of unique mutations of these two genes within the general population. However, despite the relatively high prevalence of these genetic mutations in Ashkenazi Jews, only seven percent of breast cancers in Ashkenazi women are caused by alterations in BRCA1 and BRCA2.

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How Do I Interpret The Genetic Test Results

A negative genetic test means that a breast cancer gene mutation was not identified. If other genetic testing has identified a mutation in your family, a negative test means you do not have the specific mutation. Therefore, your risk of cancer is the same as someone in the general population who has a family history of breast cancer.

If a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation has not been previously found in your family, a negative result should be interpreted cautiously. There is still a chance that you may be at higher risk for breast cancer because of changes in genes other than those that doctors can test for.

A positive test result means that a mutation known to raise the risk of breast and ovarian cancer was identified.

Implications For Genetic Testing

The results presented above on the morphological and immunohistochemical characteristics of hereditary breast cancer illustrate major differences between genotypes. The most important were those between tumors in BRCA1 carriers and all other categories. These histopathological features, in conjunction with clinical data, can be used to predict BRCA1 status and, to a lesser extent, BRCA2 and non-BRCA1/2 status and this could have implications for the process of mutation screening.

In families with a high incidence of breast and ovarian cancer there is a high probability of finding a BRCA1 or BRCA2 germline mutation. In the absence of other clinical features suggesting the alteration of a specific gene, such as prostate cancer and BRCA2 mutations, histopathological features can be used to indicate which gene should be screened first. Grade 3, estrogen receptor- and progesterone receptor-negative infiltrating ductal carcinomas are more common among BRCA1 patients, specially if they show medullary features. These cases should be also tested for CK5/6 and EGFR expression, since the positive staining of any of these makers further increase the probability of being a BRCA1 mutation carrier. Estrogen receptor- and/or progesterone receptor-positive tumors without evidence of basal differentiation should first be tested for BRCA2 mutations.

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