However, the latest evidence from this and other studies suggests that the BRCA1 gene may play a role in the future diagnosis and treatment of not only inherited breast and ovarian cancer but also the much more common sporadic forms, Holt said. The current research appears in the April issue of the journal Nature Genetics. BRCA1 also appears to be involved in the development of ovarian cancer. Another study reported in the same issue of Nature Genetics concluded that BRCA1 was flawed in at least 10 percent of sporadic cases of ovarian cancer. The average woman in the U.S. has a one in nine chance of developing breast cancer by the age of 85.
Ovarian cancer accounts for five percent of cancers among women.