Note: Laura Fejerman, PhD, former CTSI K Scholar, was the lead author in this study published in Nature Communications.
By Anahad O'Conner via NYTimes.com
A genetic variant that is particularly common in some Hispanic women with indigenous American ancestry appears to drastically lower the risk of breast cancer, a new study found.
About one in five Latinas in the United States carry one copy of the variant, and roughly 1 percent carry two.
The function of the gene is not entirely clear. But the authors of the study, which was led by a team at the University of California, San Francisco, and funded by the National Cancer Institute, said women who carry the variant have breast tissue that appears less dense on mammograms — a factor that is known to play a role in breast cancer risk. They suspect that the genetic variant may affect the production of estrogen receptors.
“This is a really important study,” said Marc Hurlbert, executive director of the Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Crusade, who was not involved in the study. “If we can understand how this is protective, it might help us to develop better treatments for those who do get breast cancer.”
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