CHICAGOBRCA gene mutations, flaws in a tumor-suppressing gene that raise the risk of breast cancer, are surprisingly common in black women with the disease, according to the first comprehensive testing in this racial group.

The study, presented Monday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in Chicago, found that one-fifth of these women have BRCA mutations, a problem usually associated with women of Eastern European Jewish descent but recently highlighted by the plight of Angelina Jolie.

The study may help explain why black women have higher rates of breast cancer at young ages -- and a worse chance of survival: One recent study found black women were twice as likely to die within first three years of a breast cancer diagnosis compared to white women.

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Doctors say black female patients should be offered genetic counseling and may want to consider more frequent screening and prevention options, which can range from hormone-blocking pills to breast removal, as Jolie chose to do.

"We were surprised at our results," said the study leader, Dr. Jane Churpek, a cancer specialist and assistant professor of medicine at the University of Chicago. Too few black women have been included in genetic studies in the past and most have not looked for mutations to the degree this one did, "so we just don't have a good sense" of how much risk there is, she said.

The researchers include Mary-Claire King, the University of Washington scientist who discovered the first breast cancer predisposition gene, BRCA1.

Jolie revealed a few weeks ago that she carries a defective BRCA1 gene, giving her up to an 87 percent risk of developing breast cancer and up to a 54 percent risk for ovarian cancer. The actress's mother had breast cancer and died of ovarian cancer, and her maternal grandmother also had ovarian cancer. An aunt recently died of breast cancer following her op-ed.

More than 232,000 women are expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Originally posted here:
Genetic flaws driving breast cancer in black women, study says

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