A New Gene of Breast Cancer Has Been Discovered in Very Young Women
By: Andrei Tapalaga
Tags: Cancer, Life, Medicine, Science, Health

A New Gene of Breast Cancer Has Been Discovered in Very Young Women

A threat that takes more and more lives

Image by skeeze from Pixabay

Over the past 20 years, our knowledge of hereditary diseases has expanded significantly, and countless hereditary genetic variants that have been discovered could lead to the development of cancer. We have known for a long time that mutations in the human BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes could lead to cancer, especially breast or ovarian cancer. However, researchers around the world also know that there are many genetic variants in our hereditary systems that could lead to these terrible diseases.

Picture from the Nationa Cancer Institution

A team of researchers from the University of Copenhagen, BRIC, and Rigshospitalet come up with valuable new information on understanding hereditary genes and the biological mechanisms underlying the development of breast cancer. Experts located the RBBP8 gene and described its functions as a crucial factor in the development of breast cancer in a group of very young women.

Representation of RBBP8 gene taken from Wikimedia Commons

“We studied the biological significance of RBBP8 genetic variants in a group of young women with breast cancer. It is a group of patients about whom we assume that genetic factors play an important role. We have now shown that RBBP8 usually protects cells against genome damage and that a reduced function of RBBP8 could, in turn, cause cancer, ”said research director Storgaard Sørensen of the University of Copenhagen.

The RBBP8 gene has never been associated with the development of breast cancer. In the new study, published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, the researchers concluded that these are rare variants and mutations, writes MedicalXpress.

The study is based on a specific patient, but experts analyzed the RBBP8 gene in Danish patients as well as other international groups.

The researchers examined 129 young Danish patients who were diagnosed with breast cancer at a very young age, under 35, and then genetically sequenced a larger group of 1,029 patients with breast cancer or other cancers. they had no mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.

Mutations in the RBBP8 gene could explain why some very young women develop breast cancer. Basic protein studies show that RBBP8 plays a crucial role in protecting and regulating human DNA because it repairs chromosome damage.

We assume that we acknowledged everything that is to know about these cells as well about the genes with our DNA, however, we don’t really as every DNA has a unique code which does not always match between the patients of breast cancer, therefore a certain explanation is hard to offer, explaining why finding the cure for cancer is such a difficult and resourceful process.

The researchers need to also be thankful for the new blood test that can discover over 50 types of cancers. An international team of researchers, led by the Dana-Farber Institute for Cancer Studies and the Mayo Clinic in the United States, had created a blood test that can identify more than 50 types of cancers, but also their approximate location in the body, notes Science Direct.

This test uses the sequencing of the methyl group in the DNA of cancer cells, these groups “stick” to certain portions of the genetic code to determine whether or not certain genes are active. In the case of cancer cells, the pattern of methyl groups is different from that of ordinary human cells. Researchers believe that these patterns are a clearer indicator of cancer than genetic mutations.

Nevertheless, researchers hope that this study will be the basis for future discoveries of other genes that could lead to the development of cancer and lead to other studies that could help prevent, diagnose and treat cancer patients.

However, more research is needed to find out exactly the risk of these mutations.