General medical examination for hereditary predisposition to cancer
The British are preparing a mass screening for the "Jolie gene"
The program includes 97 so–called oncogenes, including the notorious BRCA1, due to the presence of a mutant form of which Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie had a double preventive mastectomy. British journalists have nicknamed BRCA1 the "Jolie gene".
The Wellcome Trust Biomedical Research Charity volunteered to sponsor the pilot genetic screening program, and doctors from the Institute of Cancer Research and Royal Marsden Hospital will check for oncogenes in patients. In their work, doctors will start using a test developed by the biotech company Illumina. It is planned that with the successful completion of pilot tests, this test will be used in other medical institutions.
"It is very important to know if a patient has genetic mutations that contribute to the development of cancer – this will allow us to move to more personalized treatment. For example, there are patients who have an increased risk of developing another type of cancer – they can choose a complex operation, or maybe they need another type of treatment," the publication quotes the lead author of the study, Professor Nazneen Rahman.
About two percent of all oncological diseases are associated with the presence of oncogenes, but the statistics differ dramatically depending on the type of tumor. So, in ovarian cancer, this figure reaches 15 percent.
"Cancer patients are often interested in such information. "Is it hereditary?" they often ask. Therefore, it makes no sense to pretend that patients do not want to know about the presence of oncogenes," says Professor Martin Gore, chief physician of the Royal Marsden Hospital. However, according to him, it remains unclear how the patients' families will take this information.
The decision to remove the breast due to the presence of mutant oncogenes was made a few months ago by Hollywood star, actress Angelina Jolie. As a result of the study, it turned out that her risk of developing breast cancer is 87 percent. After the operation, this figure dropped to 5 percent.
A similar decision was made by a British businessman who underwent prostate removal. The man, who has not been named, was found to have a mutant BRCA2 gene associated with aggressive forms of prostate cancer. The entrepreneur's relatives had previously died from these forms of cancer.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru21.05.2013