Breast Cancer Gene May Raise Men’s Risk, Too

Source: HealthDay News: "A faulty gene that greatly increases a woman’s risk of breast cancer also boosts a man’s risk for the disease, a new study finds.

While most people think of breast cancer as a woman’s illness, in rare cases men can develop breast tumors as well.

The new study found that men with a faulty BRCA2 gene, long tied to female breast tumors, have a one in 12 chance of developing breast cancer before they’re 80.

British researchers analyzed data from 321 families with a faulty BRCA2 gene. They found that 20 men in the families had developed breast cancer between the ages of 29 and 79.

Of the 905 first-degree male relatives (parent or sibling) of known BRCA2 carriers, 16 men (2 percent) had developed the disease. Eight other cases of breast cancer occurred in second-degree male relatives, two of whom were also BRCA carriers. For on this article see: Breast Cancer Gene May Raise Men’s Risk, Too