National Cancer Institute says breast cancer gene can run in the family

WASHINGTON National Cancer Institute scientists last week confirmed that genes for factors contributing to susceptibility for breast cancer can be inherited, citing new research in mice and five independent collections of human breast tumors.

“Our earlier studies clearly established that inherited factors also play an important role in metastatic progression and can help distinguish which tumors have a propensity to metastasize,” said author Kent Hunter, head of NCI’s Metastasis Susceptibility Section in the Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Genetics. “Hopefully in the future we will be able to determine which women are more likely to have a tumor that would metastasize, and we could then tailor therapy specifically for them, avoiding the use of harsh treatments for those with a low probability of metastasis.”

The new findings support earlier results and appear in the Jan. 1 issue of Cancer Research.

The research team that reported these findings is from the Center for Cancer Research at NCI, which is part of the National Institutes of Health.