All articles tagged with #brca1
A woman with the BRCA1 gene mutation shares her journey of undergoing a double mastectomy and multiple reconstructive surgeries, her struggles with body image and insecurities, and how opening up to her partner helped her accept her body and find love and confidence.
A new pre-surgery treatment combining chemotherapy and the targeted drug olaparib, with a carefully timed 48-hour gap, has achieved a 100% survival rate in a clinical trial for aggressive inherited breast cancers linked to BRCA mutations, potentially revolutionizing treatment approaches.
A University of Cambridge study suggests that prescribing existing drugs to healthy women with faulty BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which increase the risk of developing breast cancer, could prevent the disease by targeting exhausted immune cells. This breakthrough could potentially reduce the need for mastectomies and provide a preventative treatment option. The study's Human Breast Cell Atlas identified these exhausted immune cells, opening up possibilities for using immunotherapy drugs preventatively. Further research and clinical trials are needed to confirm the effectiveness of this approach.
A gene variant that increases the risk of breast and ovarian cancer has been identified in people with Orkney heritage. The BRCA1 V1736A gene variant was found in one in 100 people with grandparents from Orkney, with most of them tracing their family ancestry back to the island of Westray. The variant has also been found in smaller numbers in genetic testing across the UK and the US. The BRCA genes are present in every person, but when a fault occurs in one of them, it can result in DNA damage and lead to cells becoming cancerous.