Breast Cancer - Are Your Genes to Blame?

For a woman, breast cancer is one of the most dreaded diseases that she can ever develop. The incidence of breast cancer also seems to be quite high, what with almost everyone having someone in the family with breast cancer or at least knowing someone with the disease. Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women. It is also the third deadliest cancer in the world, right behind lung cancer and colorectal cancer.

With the widely publicized statistic of a woman's chance of developing breast cancer during her lifetime as one in eight, an alarming figure indeed, concerns about breast cancer are on the rise and quite understandably so.
But the good news is that with greater use of more advanced screening techniques like mammography and other diagnostic devices, early detection is possible nowadays. The cure rate also seems to be improving.

The genetic origins of breast cancer is a much researched area. Most inherited cases of breast cancer have been associated with two genes - BRCA1 and BRCA2, which are Breast Cancer Gene 1 and Breast Cancer Gene 2.
The actual function of these two genes is to aid normal breast cell growth and to prevent any abnormalities. But when the genes mutate or contain any inherent abnormalities, they increase the risk of breast cancer. In fact 10% of all breast cancers are due to abnormal BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.

Women who develop breast cancer and who have the abnormal BRAC1 or BRAC2 gene often tend to have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer. But women who have no history of breast cancer in the family may also develop the disease, there are no guarantees for this deadly malady.

Since BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes have been identified as increasing the risk of breast cancer women who are concerned may undergo tests to establish whether the genes are abnormal or not.

About 5 to 10 percent of all breast cancers are hereditary. Certain ethnic backgrounds, such as Central or Eastern Europeans and the Jewish women are found to be more likely to develop hereditary breast cancer.

Those women who have BRCA1 genetic mutation have the same chance of survival as those who do not. It was earlier believed that women who developed breast cancer as a result of a mutated BRCA1 gene have the worst outcome and lower chances of survival. But now studies have proven that there is no significant difference in death rates between women who developed the cancer due to genetic mutations and the ones who had no genetic cause whatsoever.