Database includes more than 6,200 BRCA variants
WEDNESDAY, June 1, 2016 (HealthDay News) — A BRCA gene database can help physicians better understand their patients’ genetic risk for breast and ovarian cancer, researchers say.
The database collects information on variants of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes and can help doctors identify women more likely to develop breast and ovarian cancers and create more personalized prevention and treatment plans, USA Today reported. Patients’ BRCA data are gathered from public and private labs that join the database. Since the BRCA Share database was launched a year ago, nearly 1,000 scientists from 49 countries have registered to use it for research.
The database includes more than 6,200 BRCA variants, not all of which have been classified. That includes 375 BRCA gene variants with previously unknown roles. Scientists say 93 percent of BRCA variants don’t carry a higher risk of cancer, while the remaining 7 percent are highly likely to cause cancer, USA Today reported.
The results from the first year of use of the database were presented Wednesday at the 6th Biennial Meeting of the Human Variome Project Consortium, held from June 1 to 3 at UNESCO headquarters in Paris.
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