Can we predict breast cancer?

Posted 01/05/2012

Research published in the journal ‘Cancer Research’ reports that it could be possible to predict breast cancer up to 11 years before the disease is diagnosed. A simple blood test could be used to screen women, predicting those more likely to develop breast cancer.The tests will be looking for how genes are altered by environmental factors such as alcohol and hormones – a process known as epigenetics. Studies have shown a strong link between breast cancer risk and molecular modifications of a single gene called ATM, which is found in the white blood cells. They then found that women showing the highest methylation (a chemical effect known to act as a “gene switch”) levels, affecting the ATM gene were twice as likely to develop breast cancer compared with those with the lowest levels.

Dr James Flanagan, of Imperial College London, who led the new research, commented: “We know that genetic variation contributes to a person’s risk of disease… With this new study we can now also say that epigenetic variation, or differences in how genes are modified, also has a role…We hope that this research is just the beginning of our understanding about the epigenetic component of breast cancer risk and in the coming years we hope to find many more examples of genes that contribute to a person’s risk”.

Samantha Collins, a medical injury solicitor at Ashtons Legal, comments: “To think that we might be able to predict the development of breast cancer is truly extraordinary. Early detection is key to the fight against cancer. Predicting those more likely to develop cancer means measures can put in place for extra monitoring of these people and early treatment options made available”.