ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Women of Ashkenazi Jewish descent are more
likely to inherit mutated BRCA genes, which are linked to breast cancer, than
the general population. A new study reveals, however, this doesn't increase
their risk of dying from the disease.
Every woman is born with BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. However, mutations of these
genes -- which can be passed down through families -- have a 60-percent to
80-percent chance of developing breast cancer by age 70. In the general
population, approximately one in 450 women inherit one of these genetic
mutations. However, in the Ashkenazi Jewish population, approximately one in 40
women inherit the genetic mutation, making them 10-times more likely to have the
mutation than the average woman.
According to a recent study, this increased risk of developing breast cancer
does not carry over to the severity of the disease. Researchers looked at more
than 1,500 medical records from Israeli women between 1987 and 1989. They also
used tumor specimens from these women to gather further information about the
severity of their particular case. Results showed breast cancer-specific rates
of death among Ashkenazi Jewish women are similar to death rates for noncarriers.
"Women with these mutations often consider preventive measures, such as
preventive surgery -- meaning prophylactic mastectomies -- so testaments of
breast cancer survival are important for women making those decisions," Paula D.
Ryan, M.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and
medical oncologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, told Ivanhoe.
"If the data suggests that breast cancer rates -- related to survival outcomes
-- are similar, then that can help a person decide whether to go the route of
prevention rather than intensive surveillance."
SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview with Paula Ryan, M.D., Ph.D.; The New England
Journal of Medicine, 2007;357:115-123
