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Breast cancer genetics: what we know and what we need
K L Nathanson1, R Wooster, B L Weber
1Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Nature Medicine
|May 1, 2001
Abstract:
Breast cancer results from genetic and environmental factors leading to the accumulation of mutations in essential genes. Genetic predisposition may have a strong, almost singular effect, as with BRCA1 and BRCA2, or may represent the cumulative effects of multiple low-penetrance susceptibility alleles. Here we review high- and low-penetrance breast-cancer-susceptibility alleles and discuss ongoing efforts to identify additional susceptibility genes. Ultimately these discoveries will lead to individualized breast cancer risk assessment and a reduction in breast cancer incidence.