Scientific Breakthrough: Faulty Gene Present in 50% of all Breast Cancers Discovered
In what is being being hailed as the most significant breast cancer research finding, scientists have discovered
a gene that is faulty in 50% of all breast cancers.
The finding will help researchers understand how cancer develops and may in future lead to new treatments, they said.
Everyone is born with the gene, called NRG1, but in some people it gets damaged during their lifetime and this can lead to cancer developing, it has been found.
Damaged NRG1s have been found in half of breast cancers and it has also been implicated in half of all prostate and bowel cancers along with one quarter of ovarian and bladder cancers.
When the gene works properly it acts as a brake, stopping cancer cells from growing, but when it is damaged the brakes are off, allowing the cells to multiply into a tumour.
Everybody is born with an intact NRG1 but it gets damaged in some people during their lifetime, thereby enabling cancer to develop.
The exact reason why the gene is damaged is lost has not yet been discovered.
However, by identifying the gene, experts hope they will be able to target therapies at specific cancers in the future.
Researchers say that the finding is a major step forward in understanding how cancer develops. They are hoping to find ways to bypass the gene or create a treatment that would heal the defect in the gene.
