New breast cancer gene

Scientists from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research claim that they have discovered a gene that may explain 20 per cent of hereditary breast cancer cases.

If one of two mutations of the gene, named BRCA3, is inherited by a woman, the scientists have found that she will be up to 16 times more likely to develop breast cancer. Previously, two other genes (BRCA1 and BRCA2), discovered in the mid 1990s, have been identified as being linked to the disease. Between them, they are associated with up to a third of all inherited breast cancer cases.

The leader of the Australian research team, Georgia Chenevix-Trench, says that 60 per cent of women carrying the BRCA3 gene would develop breast cancer before the age of 70. The other breast cancer genes have been found to cause similar incidences of cancer. In the study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, US, Ms Chenevix-Trench said that between them, the three gene faults can be linked with approximately 55 per cent of all cases of hereditary breast cancers. However, the research has not convinced all parties. Cancer Research UK says that it is 'aware of conflicting data from other groups' studying gene mutations, and that it believes it is 'certainly too early to hail this research as being the study of BRCA3'.