Genetic Mutation Could Increase Daughters’ Risk of Ovarian Cancer
A team of scientists from the Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) found a newly discovered genetic mutation that is connected to earlier onset ovarian cancer, IFLScience.com reports. The same genetic mutation is also responsible for earlier onset prostate cancer in fathers and sons because it is passed down through the father’s X-chromosome. The scientists looked at data from over 3,400 granddaughter/grandmother pairs from the institute’s Familial Ovarian Cancer Registry and found 892 informative pairs and 157 granddaughters affected by ovarian cancer.
They also sequenced parts of the X-chromosome of 186 women with ovarian cancer and found that cancer can be inherited from the paternal grandmother. “Our study may explain why we find families with multiple affected daughters: because a dad’s chromosomes determine the sex of his children, all of his daughters have to carry the same X-chromosome genes,” researcher Kevin Eng said in a statement.
Read the full study in PLOS Genetics.
