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New Cancer Gene Raises Risk by a Quarter

Nearly one in 10 people have a gene mutation that can raise their risk of cancer by a quarter or more, U.S. researchers reported.

The gene appears to be the most common cancer-linked gene identified so far and raises the risk of breast and ovarian cancer by 50 percent, and the risk of colon cancer by 38 percent, the researchers said.

"The gene was prevalent in around 15 percent to 16 percent of the cancer patients and it was found in around 10 percent of the general population," said Dr. Virginia Kaklamani, an oncologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago who led the study.

"It is very common." People with two copies of the mutated gene have double this risk, the researchers said. By contrast, Kaklamani said in a telephone interview, BRCA1 and BRCA2, which predispose to breast cancer, are found in 1 in 500 people.

The gene controls a protein called transforming growth factor beta receptor 1-6A, or TGFBR1-6A for short. The protein appears to be involved in stopping cells from the out-of-control proliferation that characterizes cancer. "This protein has a weird function. In normal cells it inhibits their growth. However, once a cell becomes cancerous it looks like it makes it even more malignant -- it accelerates their growth," Kaklamani said. Dr. Boris Pasche, director of Northwestern`s Cancer Genetics Program, first identified the gene in 1998. Several companies are working on cancer drugs that affect TGF, an associated protein, and this region is of interest to some cancer researchers.

The team analyzed seven published studies and pooled those results to conclude that the TGFRB1-6A gene may be to blame for 7 percent of all breast cancers, nearly 11 percent of all ovarian cancers and 5.5 percent of all colon cancers. It is less commonly involved in a range of other cancers. Cancer is caused by altered genes -- sometimes inherited, sometimes changed by environmental factors such as smoking, hormones or overeating. "Most cases of breast, ovarian and colon cancers are caused by damage to the genes that builds up over a lifetime, but some people are born with a high risk of the disease," Pasche said in a statement. "When inherited, the TGFRB1-6A gene makes people susceptible to having certain cells grow and divide uncontrollably, which may contribute to cancer development." Most people have a slightly longer version of the gene, Kaklamani said. The shortened mutation seems to cause production of a faulty protein, she said.

She said it is too soon to start testing people for the mutation but the findings could eventually be used to screen people for cancer risk and perhaps to develop better therapies. "In the near future, it will be commonplace for people to know what genes make them more susceptible to cancer, and we`ll have many more options for preventing those cancers," Pasche predicted. Kaklamani said her team is now looking to see how aggressive the cancers linked to TGFRB1-6A are, and whether mutations can not only be inherited but caused by the environment or behavior.