Genetic marker increases risk of sporadic breast cancer, Edmonton researcher says
Sambasivarao Damaraju, a researcher with the Cross Cancer Institute and University of Alberta medical professor, discovered a genetic marker on Chromosome 4 in women with sporadic breast cancer.
Photograph by: Ryan Jackson , Edmonton Journal
EDMONTON - The discovery of a genetic variance in women with sporadic breast cancer will build on previous discoveries that could one day help better diagnose and treat women with the disease.
Sambasivarao Damaraju, a researcher with the Cross Cancer Institute and University of Alberta medical professor, discovered a genetic marker on Chromosome 4 in women with sporadic breast cancer. It increases the risk of getting breast cancer 1.3 times that of other women who don’t have the genetic marker. Although the increased risk is relatively small, each discovery of a similar risk — each adding up to a more significant risk — will allow doctors to better predict who is likely to get breast cancer and discover drugs or treatment that would target those particular differences, Damaraju said.
Less than six other such variants have been discovered around the world, he said.
“Identifying a risk factor of 1.3 is a big deal,” Damaraju said. “If you have several hundred such genes that are identified and each conferring a small but finite risk of 1.2 or 1.3 or 1.4 of risk, cumulatively all of this would be important to understand the total genetic risk of sporadic breast cancer.”
Sporadic breast cancer cases make up 80 per cent of those with breast cancer, with the others linked to familial gene mutations, such as BRCA1, carried by someone such as actress Angelina Jolie. The 37-year-old recently had a preventive double mastectomy since her rare genetics put her risk of breast cancer up to 95 per cent.
“A large part of the progress in the ‘90s and the early 2000s have seen tremendous hope and optimism in relation to nailing down the genetic risk factors for breast cancers, but those have been fairly restricted to familial cancers with the discover of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes,” Damaraju said.
His research looked at the DNA of 7,200 women, of whom 2,800 had sporadic breast cancer. Of those with breast cancer, approximately 18 per cent had the genetic mutation on Chromosome 4.
“Even after cataloguing all of these (genetic) variants, there is still a large amount of work that needs to be done to identify those other environmental risk factors as well,” Damaraju said, noting that most breast cancer is caused by environmental and lifestyle factors, such as smoking, age or gender. “Together, they will contribute to a very good model for predisposition and screening at the population level.”
If doctors can better predict patient predispositions, certain parts of the population could be involved with aggressive screening, preventive measures and counselling to help people deal with diagnosis of the disease.
“Knowing earlier means all the difference,” Damaraju said.
Carmelle Boston, vice-president of communications and public affairs for the Alberta Cancer Foundation, said the finding demonstrates the hard work being done in cancer by Alberta researchers.
“The more we understand about the genetic implications of cancer, the more that we’re able to provide better treatment options as well as better preventive measures,” Boston said. “So for 1.3 per cent of the general population might not seem like a lot, but for that 1.3 per cent that might be afflicted with breast cancer, this discovery is certainly groundbreaking.”
jsinnema@edmontonjournal.com
twitter.com/jodiesinnema
Sambasivarao Damaraju, a researcher with the Cross Cancer Institute and University of Alberta medical professor, discovered a genetic marker on Chromosome 4 in women with sporadic breast cancer. It increases the risk of getting breast cancer 1.3 times that of other women who don’t have the genetic marker. Although the increased risk is relatively small, each discovery of a similar risk — each adding up to a more significant risk — will allow doctors to better predict who is likely to get breast cancer and discover drugs or treatment that would target those particular differences, Damaraju said.
Less than six other such variants have been discovered around the world, he said.
“Identifying a risk factor of 1.3 is a big deal,” Damaraju said. “If you have several hundred such genes that are identified and each conferring a small but finite risk of 1.2 or 1.3 or 1.4 of risk, cumulatively all of this would be important to understand the total genetic risk of sporadic breast cancer.”
Sporadic breast cancer cases make up 80 per cent of those with breast cancer, with the others linked to familial gene mutations, such as BRCA1, carried by someone such as actress Angelina Jolie. The 37-year-old recently had a preventive double mastectomy since her rare genetics put her risk of breast cancer up to 95 per cent.
“A large part of the progress in the ‘90s and the early 2000s have seen tremendous hope and optimism in relation to nailing down the genetic risk factors for breast cancers, but those have been fairly restricted to familial cancers with the discover of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes,” Damaraju said.
His research looked at the DNA of 7,200 women, of whom 2,800 had sporadic breast cancer. Of those with breast cancer, approximately 18 per cent had the genetic mutation on Chromosome 4.
“Even after cataloguing all of these (genetic) variants, there is still a large amount of work that needs to be done to identify those other environmental risk factors as well,” Damaraju said, noting that most breast cancer is caused by environmental and lifestyle factors, such as smoking, age or gender. “Together, they will contribute to a very good model for predisposition and screening at the population level.”
If doctors can better predict patient predispositions, certain parts of the population could be involved with aggressive screening, preventive measures and counselling to help people deal with diagnosis of the disease.
“Knowing earlier means all the difference,” Damaraju said.
Carmelle Boston, vice-president of communications and public affairs for the Alberta Cancer Foundation, said the finding demonstrates the hard work being done in cancer by Alberta researchers.
“The more we understand about the genetic implications of cancer, the more that we’re able to provide better treatment options as well as better preventive measures,” Boston said. “So for 1.3 per cent of the general population might not seem like a lot, but for that 1.3 per cent that might be afflicted with breast cancer, this discovery is certainly groundbreaking.”
jsinnema@edmontonjournal.com
twitter.com/jodiesinnema
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