Six new Ovarian cancer genes identified

A new international study has identified six new genes that increase a woman’s likelihood of developing ovarian cancer, taking the number of known ovarian cancer gene regions from 12 to 18. An international research led by Australia's QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute and the University of Cambridge studied around 70,000 women from 30 countries and drew on data from Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium and the Consortium of Investigators of BRCA1/2.

“Individually, each of these ‘typos’ increases the risk of cancer by a very small amount,” QIMR Berghofer Cancer Program Head Professor Georgia Chenevix-Trench said, adding, “However, if a woman carries a large number of these typos her risk of developing ovarian cancer may be as high as that conferred by mutations in BRCA1 or 2.” A woman’s lifetime risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer is greatly increased if she inherits a harmful mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes. The cancer has been referred to as a silent killer because it is often not detected until it is at an advanced stage. Professor Trench further elaborated that this new finding would help to better diagnose and prevent ovarian cancer.

Culled from Presstv