New breast cancer gene is identified by scientists

THE secrets of a hard-to-spot form of breast cancer are being uncovered, raising hopes of earlier diagnosis and better treatment.

For the first time, scientists have identified a gene behind invasive lobular carcinoma – cancer of the milk-producing glands.

It accounts for up to 15 per cent of the 50,000 cases of breast cancer diagnosed each year, is most common in women aged between 45 and 55 and can develop in both breasts at the same time.

However, because a classic lump does not often form, the cancer is difficult to diagnose. If doctors know which women are at high risk, they could be monitored and any cancer caught early.

The UK-led collaboration of 100 universities and research institutions compared the DNA of more than 6,500 women with invasive lobular carcinoma with more than 35,000 without the disease.

This linked one particular gene with invasive lobular carcinoma.

Women with the rogue stretch of DNA have a 13 per cent higher chance of the cancer, the journal PLoS Genetics reports.

Professor Montserrat Garcia-Closas, of the The Institute of Cancer Research in London, said: ‘We hope that improving our knowledge of the genes involved in lobular carcinoma could improve our ability to prevent and treat it.’