New Genetic Clues to Breast Cancer? - Drugs.com MedNews

SUNDAY Jan. 22, 2012 --
"Researchers have identified three new genomic regions they believe are linked with breast cancer that may help explain why some women develop the disease..........Scientists conducting genome-wide association studies -- research that looks at the association between genetic factors and disease to pinpoint possible causes -- had already identified 22 breast cancer susceptibility loci. Locus is the physical location of a gene or DNA sequence on a chromosome. "The three [newly identified] loci take the number of common susceptibility loci from 22 to 25," said Easton. However, the three new susceptibility loci might explain only about 0.7 percent of the familial risks of breast cancer, bringing the total contribution to about 9 percent, the researchers said.'".......