Women who have a BRCA mutation and have chest x-rays before the age of 30 are at an 80% increased risk of breast cancer compared to those who don't carry the gene.
That's according to a new study to be published next month in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment (December 2008, Vol. 112:3, pp. 581-584). In the study, Polish researchers compared 138 BRCA1 carriers who had received chest x-rays before they were 30 years old with 158 women who also had breast cancer but did not have the BRCA1 mutation. All study participants were drawn from a national breast cancer research registry.
Dr. Jacek Gronwald and colleagues found that women with BRCA1 had more frequent chest x-ray use before age 20 than those without the gene mutation: on average, 1.8 chest x-rays compared to 1.0, an 80% risk increase.
"These observations support the hypothesis that early radiation exposure may be a risk factor for breast cancer in BRCA1 carriers," Gronwald wrote.
Related Reading
Breast cancer risk high in women with family history but no BRCA mutations, November 19, 2008
Nonrandom X chromosome inactivation seen in BRCA1 mutation carriers, November 10, 2008
Family history boosts contralateral breast cancer risk after radiotherapy, November 4, 2008
Family history of breast cancer confers lifetime elevated risk, May 14, 2008
Combined breast screening provides best survival for BRCA1 mutation carriers, February 26, 2008
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