is this new technology the end for fermiscan, page-20

Good to see some positive movement in SP today albeit on small volumes.

Anyway, I just picked this up in UK newspaper and was wondering whether it would have any bearing on FER technology ie. if they can detect the gene it will mean very early detection indeed to increased risk from breast cancer. Do we have any technical experts out there who would like to comment?

Scientists find four more breast cancer genes
By Roger Highfield, Science Editor
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 28/05/2007



Four genes that raise a woman's risk of breast cancer have been identified, paving the way for tests that can help identify who should undergo more intense screening.

The study is the latest in a clutch of recent papers to reveal links between disease and DNA by scanning the entire human genetic code, or genome, for the genetic variants that raise the risk of illness.

The so-called susceptibility genes - the best-known of which are BRCA1 and BRCA2 - account for less than 25 per cent of the risk of breast cancer being passed from mother to child.

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But the latest study shows what scientists have long expected, that there are other genes in which common genetic variants can increase risk but to a much lesser degree.

To look for them, Prof Douglas Easton of the University of Cambridge, backed by Cancer Research UK, led an international team that conducted a genome-wide analysis, looking for 30 changes in a "letter" of DNA already linked to breast cancer in more than 27,000 patients and 27,000 controls.

In a report in the journal Nature today, they say they have found four genes positively associated with genetic susceptibility to breast cancer - FGFR2, TNRC9, MAP3K1 and LSP1 - and believe the same approach will find many more.

"We're very excited by these results because the regions we identified don't contain previously known inherited cancer genes," said Prof Easton. "This opens the door to new research directions. Only very recent advances in technology have allowed us to carry out such a large comparison study."

Two of the regions identified contain genes FGFR2 and TNRC9 that are thought to increase breast cancer risk by about 20 per cent in women who carry one faulty copy of a gene and by between 40 and 60 per cent if they carry two faulty copies. Between one in six and one in 16 women are thought to carry two faulty copies of FGFR2 and TNRC9.

The genes present in the three other regions identified in the study are also common among the population but the increased risks incurred by these genetic faults are relatively small and would not be suitable for genetic testing.

But as more and more of these "low risk" genes are found, it may be possible to design tests for a combination of genes. This could help doctors make decisions about prevention, diagnosis and treatment for women who inherit faults in one or more of these genes.

Most previously identified breast cancer susceptibility genes are involved in DNA repair, but the new associations appear to relate more to the control of cell growth or to cell signalling.

Two other studies published in the journal provide further evidence of the risk for breast cancer. One paper, from David Hunter and colleagues, also identifies variants of the gene FGFR2 as being particularly associated with breast cancer.

Another paper, from Kari Stefansson at DeCODE genetics, Iceland, reports genetic variants on each of chromosomes 2 and 16, which both increase the risk of breast cancer linked with the female hormone, oestrogen. The chromosome 16 variant is in TNRC9, the same one found by the British-led team.

Prof Karol Sikora, a leading cancer specialist, said: "This set of papers points to the future understanding the genetics of cancer. It's likely many more cancer predisposing genes will be identified using similar approaches in the next few months."

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Britain with 44,000 cases diagnosed each year, of which inherited genetic faults are thought to account for around five to 10 per cent.