Treating DNA Repair-deficient Breast Cancers - CANCER RESEARCH Catalyst

Treating DNA Repair-deficient Breast Cancers - CANCER RESEARCH Catalyst

Treating DNA Repair-deficient Breast Cancers

Posted on November 3, 2017 by Srivani Ravoori, PhD

About 5 to 10 percent of breast cancers are hereditary, of which 20 to 25 percent bear alterations in the genes BRCA1 and BRCA2. These genes code for proteins in one of the DNA repair pathways, the homologous recombination (HR) pathway. Germline mutations (or inherited mutations) in these genes are widely recognized as conferring an increased lifetime risk for breast and ovarian cancers.