Breast cancer can develop due to a mutation in genes that is inherited, or a spontaneous failure that occurs in DNA during cell division, warned Irina Petrova, head of the Gemotest Center for Genetic Research, Candidate of Medical Sciences, in an interview with RT.
“Hereditary breast cancer develops in 10% of cases. Most often, it is caused by defects in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. They are involved in encoding proteins that correct DNA abnormalities. But if they are defective, the genes do not work correctly and a tumor develops as a result. Less commonly, the growth of malignant tumors is caused by defects in the genes ATM, CHEK2, PALB2, PTEN, TP53 and a number of others. A child can get these mutations from both dad and mom, and in both cases the probability of this is 50%,” explained RT’s interlocutor.
People who have inherited genetic mutations are called carriers, the expert recalled.
“Outwardly, this defect does not manifest itself in any way, but it increases the risk of developing the disease to 60-90%. The carrier may not get cancer, but will pass on a predisposition to it by inheritance,” the doctor added.
The specialist warned that men can also be carriers of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations and also suffer from breast cancer.
“True, it occurs in them much less frequently, this is due to the fact that normally the level of estrogen in men is very low. For every 100 cases of female breast cancer, there is 1 case in men. Damages in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes also increase the risk of developing cancer in the colon, ovaries, prostate and pancreas, as well as skin,” the expert notes.
Often, such hereditary cancer occurs early – at the age of 30-45 years – and has its own characteristics in the clinical course, prognosis and sensitivity to therapy, she warned.
Therefore, according to Petrova, it is important to establish whether the cancer is hereditary.
“A person may not even suspect that he is a carrier of oncogenic mutations. Genetic tests can identify them. They are recommended for those who have an unfavorable family history: their closest relatives have been diagnosed with cancer, especially before the age of 50,” says the doctor.
But most often the cause of the disease is a random mutation that occurs during cell division, the geneticist emphasized.
“Normally, such cells with “erroneous” genetic material, from which a tumor can form, are destroyed by the immune system. But with age, the number of such spontaneous mutations accumulates, and immunity weakens. Therefore, after 60 years, the risk of developing malignant neoplasms increases,” the expert concluded.
October 15 is World Breast Cancer Day.
Earlier, Irina Kolesnikova, a geneticist and medical expert at the Hemotest laboratory, in a conversation with RT, named genetics as the reason for the longevity of the Spanish woman Maria Brañas Morera, who lived to be 117 years old.
