Comment From Breakthrough Breast Cancer On Cancer Research UK Research On Family History & Breast Cancer Risk, UK

Main Category: Breast Cancer
Also Included In: Cancer / Oncology
Article Date: 20 Jan 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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Dr Sarah Cant, Policy Manager at Breakthrough Breast Cancer, says:

"This research, whilst interesting, is only relevant to a very small proportion of women - those with a strong family history but without a BRCA gene fault. The researchers suggest that these women could benefit from extra breast screening and taking tamoxifen to reduce their breast cancer risk. However, tamoxifen is not currently licensed for this use in the UK. There are risks and benefits to all preventative measures, such as tamoxifen, and anyone concerned about their family history of the disease should speak to their doctor."

Additional information:

- BRCA1 and BRCA2 are two genes which when faulty can be associated with a strong family history of breast cancer.

- Only around 5% of all breast cancer cases are due to inherited faults in known breast cancer genes such as BRCA1 and BRCA2

- The causes of most cases of breast cancer are still unknown, but they are most likely due to a combination of genetic, environmental and lifestyle risk factors.

Breakthrough Breast Cancer