| Abstract |
Besides family history of cancer and an individual's age, no single
etiologic factor can identify women at an increased risk for the disease.
Approximately 10% of all cases of breast cancer exhibit a familial pattern
of incidence. Efforts to identify the genetic basis of familial breast
cancer reached fruition some years ago, when the breast-cancer
susceptibility genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2 were identified. However, recent
studies have suggested that mutations in these genes are associated with a
smaller number (20 to 60%) of hereditary breast cancer families than
originally estimated, especially in studies that have been based on
population-based family materials. Several groups including ours are
searching for additional breast cancer susceptibility genes using whole
genome scanning approaches, but the success of many of these approaches
depend on the underlying heterogeneity of the remaining cancer
susceptibility loci. The failure to date to identify additional breast
cancer susceptibility genes associated with a high risk of disease
suggests that more than one may exist. We have taken the approach that the
next BRCA genes will be those that encode for proteins whose functions are
linked to important cell regulatory pathways. We have recently found one
such candidate BRCA3 protein, referred to as p84N5.
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