DNA In Normal Breast Tissue May Help Determine Risk

Could DNA in normal breast tissue help determine a woman's risk of breast cancer?

Several factors are thought to increase the risk of breast cancer, including family history of the illness, starting periods early and a late entrance into menopause.

"These new findings are important in supporting further research into women's cancer development and prevention," said Martin Widschwendter, head of the department of women's cancer at University College London, in a news release. "We are working hard to understand the risk factors associated with epigenetic changes in normal breast tissue and how these predispose a woman to cancer. The application of these altered epigenetic signatures hold the key developing new interventions that could 'switch off' this epigenetic defect and hold the key to preventing cancer development."

During the study, researchers analyzed DNA in close to 600 breast tissue samples, including those from women with and without breast cancer. Then they studied the samples via a statistical analysis tool.

Findings showed that more than 30 percent of alterations in DNA expression matched cancer samples, revealing some of the reprogramming of cells that go from normal to cancerous, according to UPI. 

The results are exciting as it means that doctors could potentially study epigenetic signatures so that could one day identify cells that may lead to cancer--providing insight into how breast cancer may develop in some patients and how it could potentially be prevented.

"These new data show how epigenetic alterations, if detected early enough, could be used to identify women at higher risk of developing breast cancer," said Andrew Teschendorff, a researchers at University College London. "Since epigenetic alterations are reversible, it offers the potential to design preventive strategies. Our work further highlights the importance of inter-disciplinary work, combining clinical, biological and statistical expertise to make these findings possible."

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