These women are 20 times more likely to develop breast cancer.
Scientists at the Lundberg Laboratory for Cancer Research and the Plastic Surgery Clinic at the Sahlgrenska Academy in Sweden say they have discovered a new hereditary breast cancer gene. The researchers found that women with Saethre-Chotzen syndrome, caused by th gene TWIST1, are nearly 20 times more at risk of contracting breast cancer than expected.
The investigators mapped families with Saethre-Chotzen syndrome. This condition primarily involves malformations of the skull, face, hands, and feet.
The scientists are planing various experiments to chart the mechanism of how TWIST1 increases the risk of breast cancer. The results of this study appear in Genes Chromosomes Cancer.
