SHARES
October is Breast Cancer month, and when we speak of breast cancer the BRCA gene is one of those words that pops up a lot.
Most women have a 12% chance of developing breast cancer in their lifetime. However, with BRCA mutations the risk increases to a high 70% chance of developing breast cancer by age 80. While one may find these numbers alarming, less than 10% of women diagnosed with breast cancer carry this mutation.
But let’s break things down a little bit and start with what a gene really is.
What’s A Gene ?
Our genes make up our DNA. They are small sections that code for individual traits. For example, the reason behind someone’s brown eyes or high metabolism is encoded in the DNA. The same happens in the case of breast cancer.
Furthermore, all inherited traits are passed down through genes. Every person has two copies of every gene, one from each parent. Therefore any of the parent’s genetic traits have a 50% chance of being passed down.
BRCA?
BRCA is an abbreviation for BReast CAncer gene. Although they sound similar, BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 are two different genes which profoundly impact a person’s chance of developing breast cancer. All of us have BRCA genes. Yeah you read that right! Despite the name, BRCA genes actually are important tumor suppressor cells. They protect us from cancer by repairing DNA and preventing the uncontrolled growth of tumors.
However, these tiny soldiers become a problem when the BRCA gene is damaged and mutation occurs. Fortunately only a small percentage of 0.25% people carry the mutation – which is approximately 1 in 400 people. BRCA mutations would directly and exponentially increase the risk of breast and ovarian cancer, plus other cancers.
BRCA1 VS BRCA2?
While both genes perform the same functions they can be differentiated in one of two ways:-
- The two genes are found on different chromosomes – BRCA1 is on the 17th chromosome, BRCA2 on the 13th.
- Both gene mutations also impact the risks of other cancers for example:
BRCA1 mutations increase the risk of breast, ovarian, pancreatic, cervical, uterine, and colon cancers. Additionally, this gene is also linked to a triple negative breast cancer, an aggressive and frequently difficult to treat form of breast cancer.
BRCA2 mutations increase the risk of breast, ovarian, pancreatic, gallbladder, bile duct and melanoma cancers.
How about Men?
Although most people relate BRCA mutations to women but men inherit the genes alike and have the same BRCA gene mutations affecting men too.
Furthermore, the presence of these gene mutations in men increases highly the likelihood of breast, testicular, pancreatic, melanoma and prostate cancers. Men with a BRCA2 mutation face a higher risk of these cancers than BRCA1 mutation, whilst it is the reverse where BRCA1 mutation is more deadly in women.
BRCA and Familial links
If any of these cancers occur in a family member, it signals a BRCA mutation possibility. The closer the family member is related to you, the higher the possibility:
- ovarian or fallopian tube cancer
- breast cancer at age 50 or younger
- Breast cancer in two breasts in same person
- both breast and ovarian cancer
- triple negative breast cancer
- Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry and a history of breast or ovarian cancer
- male breast cancer
Additionally, another signal that BRCA mutation runs in the family if more than one family relative have any of these cancers may:
- breast cancer
- ovarian or fallopian tube cancer
- prostate cancer
- pancreatic cancer
- melanoma
If the odds are stacked against you regarding cancer, talk to your doctor.
by Yashwini Ravindranath
Born & raised in Malaysia, Yashwini earned her M.D. studying in Moscow's Russian National Research Medical University. With an affiliation towards research, all things coffee and the startup ecosystem, she now contributes articles to GetDocSays View all articles by Yashwini Ravindranath.
