Researchers identify new genes linked to breast cancer

(Annie Lennon/ Medical News Today) — Breast cancer is the most common cancer globally, accounting for around 12.5% of new cancer cases worldwide. Genetic testing can be used to assess risk for the condition. Current tests consider risk variants on a small number of genes, including BRCA1, BRCA2, and PALB2.

However, known variants explain less than half of the familial relative risk of breast cancer, which is the probability of developing a condition if a family member has had it before. How much rare coding variants in other genes account for breast cancer risk remains largely unknown.

Understanding more about different breast cancer genes could improve the accuracy of genetic testing for predicting breast cancer risk.

Recently, researchers analyzed genetic data from 244,041 women to identify new gene variants linked to breast cancer. They found evidence for several new breast cancer risk genes and potential evidence for others. (…)