[MOL] Breast Cancer Mutations Detected in Cheek Cells

[Joicy <joicy@erols.com>]

Hi, friends...thought this was an interesting development! Know that I am
thinking of you all, and hoping all is well. Love and prayers, Joicy

 1) Breast Cancer Mutations Detected in Cheek Cells
    [10/10/2000; Reuters Health]

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters Health) - If preliminary results
are borne out by further study, examining cells from cheek swabs
may become an inexpensive way to detect mutations in the BRCA1
and BRCA2 genes that are linked to breast and ovarian cancer,
researchers suggest. Investigators at the University of Massachusetts
at Amherst and Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Massachusetts,
report that in a study of 16 high-risk women and 20 normal ('control')
women, using cheek cells was highly accurate when compared with
the current method, called sequence analysis. Dr. Gabriel Cohn
of Baystate Medical Center reported the findings at the annual
meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics here. The motivation
for the work is economic. ``In the United States, up to 80% of
inheritable breast cancer is caused by BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations,''
Cohn said. ``It costs about $2,700 to do both BRCA1 and BRCA2
sequence analysis,'' he pointed out. The cost of the cheek cell
method would surely be significantly less, Cohn noted. To validate
the test, about 1,500 women would need to be tested, he added.
``These results are preliminary but encouraging,'' offered Dr. Steven
A. Narod of the Center for Research in Women's Health, Toronto,
Canada. ``I'm sure there are plenty of people here who would
be willing to help you out.''

The full article can be found at:

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20001010/hl/cancer_41.html

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