( Researchers at Cambridge University in ...)UK Scientists Identify Gene Mutations That Trigger Breast Cancer,Health

Researchers at Cambridge University in the UK have discovered mutations in the DNA of four genes that could play a significant role in triggering breast cancer in women .

The discovery would help evolve new methods of targeting younger women at higher-than-average risk of breast cancer so that they could be screened with mammography before they reach 50 - the age when routine breast screening now begins.

Unlike other genetic variations associated with familial breast cancer, the mutations in these four new genes are relatively common in the population and appear to form part of a bigger community of genes that play a role in breast-cancer predisposition.

However, the wider significance of the genetic discovery is that it brings the day closer when anyone's genome - the entire DNA blueprint - can be screened for the many hundreds of genes that are believed to increase susceptibility to a wide range of cancers.

Some scientists believe that the latest studies, published online in the journals Nature and Nature Genetics, are among the most important in the field of breast cancer since the first susceptibility genes for inherited forms of the disease were identified in the mid-1990s. "This set of incredible scientific studies points to the future understanding of the genetics of cancer," said Professor Karol Sikora, a leading cancer specialist, who was not directly involved with the latest work.

"In theory, it allows you to look at thousands of people to study their genes and to find associations that we just didn't see before," Professor Sikora said. Several teams of scientists took part in the latest studies, with the biggest led by Douglas Easton, a professor of cancer epidemiology at Cambridge University, who studied the DNA of nearly 50,000 women, half of whom had breast cancer.

The scientists used "DNA chips" to screen each person's genome for genetic variations that were found to
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