Women with mutations that increase the risk of cancer are also more responsive to chemotherapy.

At last, there is good news for women who have inherited a mutation in the BRCA1 gene. Around ten per cent of ovarian cancers are linked to this mutation. But new research shows that the mutation also helps women survive the disease.

Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in the US studied a group of 71 Ashkenazi Jewish women with ovarian cancer. Around half had a BRCA1 mutation - not surprisingly, as the mutation is known to be especially common in this group. The researchers found that 88 per cent of the women with the mutation had no disease at 'second look' surgery - done to assess residual cancer after treatment - compared to just 41 per cent of those without the mutation. Average survival time in the BRCA1 group was 91 months, compared to 54 months. And those with the mutation remained disease free for 49 months, on average, compared to 19 months for those without the mutation. The researchers say that having a BRCA1 mutation makes a woman more sensitive to chemotherapy, so that treatment is more likely to be successful.

Source

Cancer 1st May 2003