WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A recent study led by the researchers from Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center identified twelve new breast cancer variants in women of African ancestry.
The study, published in Nature Genetics, analyzed 18,034 cases and 22,104 controls of women with African ancestry to identify new 12 loci associated with breast cancer risk, of which 3 loci were related to risk of triple-negative breast cancer or TNBC.
The findings showed that around 8 percent of African-ancestry women carry all six risk variants in loci, making these women 4.2 times more likely to be diagnosed with TNBC than others with single or no variants.
According to the American Cancer Society, Black women under the age of 50 in the U.S. are at a higher risk of having incurable cancers, and have a 42 percent higher chance of dying from cancer compared to white women.
'We have worked with researchers from more than 15 institutions in the U.S. and Africa to establish this large genetic consortium. Data put together in this consortium have been and will continue to be used by researchers around the world to address significant questions related to breast cancer etiology and genetics,' said the study's corresponding author Wei Zheng, the Anne Potter Wilson Professor of Medicine and director of the Vanderbilt Epidemiology Center.
Further, the researchers stated that they have combined the new discoveries with previously known cancer genes like BRCA1 and BRCA2 to develop a more accurate breast cancer risk score for women with African ancestry.
However, the lead study author Dr. Wei Zheng of Vanderbilt University Medical Centre said that the usefulness of the new variants need to be further evaluated before including it in routine testing.
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