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    Sunday, October 1, 2017

    GENE TEST 'NARROWS DOWN BREAST CANCER RISK



    The Manchester researchers behind the test said it could reduce the number of women having surgery to remove their breasts, by narrowing down their risk.
    The test, on blood or saliva, looks at 18 genetic variants known to affect the chances of getting breast cancer.
    Cancer charities said it would have a real impact on women and lead to fewer being diagnosed with the disease.
    The Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) test will initially be available for patients having tests at St Mary's Hospital and Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester for BRCA1 and 2 gene mutations, with a family history of breast cancer.
    BRCA has been dubbed the 'Angelina Jolie gene' after the actress revealed she had surgery on learning she had up to 87% chance of developing breast cancer.

    Accurate risk

    Prof Evans wants the test to become more widely available, eventually allowing all women to find out their likelihood of developing breast cancer.
    He said: "This is a massive game changer for breast cancer where we now have tests which can give accurate risk in the whole population, those with a family history and those with BRCA mutations."
    Prof Evans' team has been working with Cambridge University and researchers in the US, Australia and Europe to look at samples from 60,000 women.
    Within two years they hope to have improved the gene test to include up to 300 genetic variants that are known to affect the likelihood of developing breast cancer.

    Better choices

    They are also investigating whether they can use their work to understand how genes increase or reduce the risk of developing prostate, uterine, ovarian, lung and colorectal cancers.
    That could be particularly beneficial to BRCA mutation carriers, who are also at increased risk of ovarian cancer.
    Dr Justine Alford from Cancer Research UK said: "The more that we learn about the genetic components behind these increased risks of developing breast cancer in women who have a family history of the disease, the better the choice they can make about their health."
    Lester Barr, chairman of Prevent Breast Cancer, a Manchester-based charity which funded some of the research, said the next step was to help women with no family history of breast cancer who may still carry a genetic risk of the developing the disease.
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