Cancer genes hope for women
AUSTRALIANS are surviving to a healthy old age despite having genes that cause cancer or heart disease, a breakthrough study has found.
It means women with genes linked to breast and ovarian cancer, such as actor Angelina Jolie, may be having their breasts and reproductive organs removed to prevent a cancer they may never develop.
They may live a long life because they have other protective genes, the Australian research found.
The author of the study, Monash University’s Dr Paul Lacaze, said it proved that carrying cancer-causing gene variations like BRCA1/BRCA2, Lynch’s Syndrome or 50 other pathogenic gene variations was “not a death sentence”.
He is racing to identify other genetic variations that might explain why these people did not develop cancer in order to finetune the usefulness of genetic testing for disease. It could lead to some women being told that even though they have a BRCA gene, their risk of cancer is still low, so drastic action such as breast and ovarian removal is not necessary.
Regular cancer checks might be all they need to protect themselves.
“It’s possible that they’re carrying protective factors that are offsetting their risk – protective genetic factors,” Dr Lacaze said.
The next stage of his research is trying to find those protective factors.
Women with BRCA genes have a 70 per cent chance of developing breast cancer so it is important they seek medical advice about surgery.
The Monash research analysed genetic markers in 13,000 healthy Australians aged over 70.