News

Identification of a new high-risk gene for breast cancer

Posted Date: June 05, 2015

A novel gene – PALB2 – greatly raises the risk for breast cancer, and should be taken seriously, according to a recent study led by Dr. Marc Tischkowitz.

A recent report in the New England Journal of Medicine published by Dr. Marc Tischkowitz and colleagues demonstrates that mutations in PALB2 significantly increases a person’s risk for breast cancer, compared with the general population. The study included 362 members from 154 families carrying the PALB2 gene mutations. When the gene is functioning normally, it acts as a tumor suppressor. When mutated, growth of cancer cells is no longer inhibited. Both men and woman men who carry a mutated form of the PALB2 gene are at significantly increased risk for breast cancer, approaching the risk associated with mutations in BRCA2 genes. Read more about the study here.