Ovarian cancer patients who carry BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations are significantly more likely to survive the disease than women without these faulty genes, according to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The study, which combined the results of 26 international trials, showed 44% of women with BRCA1 faults and 52% of women with BRCA2 faults were alive five years after they were diagnosed with epithelial ovarian cancer. This compares with 36% of women without a fault in one of these genes who were alive five years after their diagnosis. The researchers say having a faulty BRCA gene could alter the biology of a tumour, making it more responsive to treatment. It could also be because the normal role of a BRCA gene is to repair damage to DNA. Having a faulty BRCA gene could leave the tumour less able to repair damaged DNA and so more vulnerable to chemotherapy.
