Breast cancer awareness
In Britain, the first baby is born without the gene of breast cancer." In fact, this baby, a girl born in the first week of January, was selected not to have a mutation in the BRCA1 gene, responsible for the hereditary forms of breast cancer, which had affected many women of her family. That does not mean, unfortunately, not that this girl is at risk to come one day to develop breast cancer or other types of tumors.
Woman facing risk
The risk of any woman will develop a breast cancer is about 10% to 12%. Just living enough. Experts agree that the incidence has increased more than would be expected simply by the increase in life expectancy. Why? We still do not know. Changes in behavior, number of children, dietary habits, intake of hormones ... Are hypotheses to be confirmed, and there is still no consensus. The most common forms of cancer, although classified as genetic diseases are not inherited, or are not caused by a mutation in a gene specific transmitted directly from parents to children.
Difference between the most common and hereditary
There are at least two well characterized genes that cause inherited forms of breast cancer - the BRCA1 and BRCA2. The symbol comes from the English BRCA breast cancer. If a woman has a mutation in one of these genes, the risk that might develop breast cancer is 10% - the risk that we are run - for 50% to 80%. Fortunately these hereditary forms account for less than 10% of total cases. You should only worry about that if more cases of breast cancer in their family, usually early. This was the case of British baby as braggart by the world press.
The mutation was present in the parent
The father of the girl who had just been born a family history of breast cancer, with several first-degree relatives affected. The molecular analysis showed that he inherited a mutation in the BRCA1 gene from their mother and therefore has a probability of 50% of transmitting it to their descendants. A daughter who inherit this mutation have a risk of between 50% and 80% to come in the future to have breast cancer - a risk that these parents did not want to run. How to avoid? Decided to use pre-implantation diagnosis, a technique which has already said in previous columns.
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