Breast cancer genes and new treatments they made possible
in: Health and Well-Being
Exposure to certain viruses can lead to an increased risk of some cancers, and it used to be thought that all or most cancers had a viral origin. But in the early 1990s, a research group at U.C. Berkeley, led by professor Mary Claire King, proposed the idea that mutations in particular genes could be an important risk factor for breast cancer. Using funding from the NIH, they were able to pursue this idea. The BRCA1 gene was discovered in 1994, and its counterpart BRCA2 followed a year later. This and subsequent research showed that people with mutations in these genes have an elevated risk of developing breast cancer, and that their cancers respond to treatments in different ways than other types of breast cancer.
This research directly led to novel screening tools for breast cancer risk assessment, early detection and more targeted options for prevention and treatment – nothing short of a revolution in the standard of care for breast cancer. More generally, this research played a pivotal role in the advent of “precision medicine” in which individual patients’ genetic profiles lead to personalized risk assessment and treatment for cancer and many other diseases.
- States: UT , NC , CA , WA
- Organizations: Duke University , University of Utah , University of California Berkeley , University of Washington , National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
- Topics: Biology , Health
- Federal Grants: NIH R01CA027632 , NIH Z01ES023000
- Links and further reading: [ link1 | link2 | link3 | link4 | link5 | link6 ]