Both male and female relatives of women diagnosed with breast cancer before the age of 35 are at an increased risk of other cancers even if they do not carry faulty BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, scientists have discovered.
The study, published in the British Journal of Cancer looked at the risks of breast and other cancers for the relatives of young women diagnosed with the disease. Scientists studied the 2,200 parents and siblings of 500 women with breast cancer diagnosed before the age of 35 who had been tested for BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations. After excluding families with mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2, scientists found that the relatives not only faced an increased risk of breast cancer, but also of prostate, lung, brain and urinary cancers. This could reflect the presence and effects of other undiscovered gene disorders causing disease in young women and perhaps other cancers in their families.
