Women who carry a mutation in the BRCA1 gene (on chromosome 17q21), have an 80% risk of breast cancer and a 40% risk of ovarian cancer by the age of 70 (ref. 1). The variable penetrance of BRCA1 suggests that other genetic and non-genetic factors play a role in tumourigenesis in these individuals. The HRAS1 variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) polymorphism, located 1 kilobase (kb) downstream of the HRAS1 proto-oncogene (chromosome 11p15.5) is one possible genetic modifier of cancer penetrance. Individuals who have rare alleles of the VNTR have an increased risk of certain types of cancers, including breast cancer (2-4). To investigate whether the presence of rare HRAS1 alleles increases susceptibility to hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, we have typed a panel of 307 female BRCA1 carriers at this locus using a PCR-based technique. The risk for ovarian cancer was 2.11 times greater for BRCA1 carriers harbouring one or two rare HRAS1 alleles, compared to carriers with only common alleles (P = 0.015). The magnitude of the relative risk associated with a rare HRAS1 allele was not altered by adjusting for the other known risk factors for hereditary ovarian cancer (5). Susceptibility to breast cancer did not appear to be affected by the presence of rare HRAS1 alleles. This study is the first to show the effect of a modifying gene on the penetrance of an inherited cancer syndrome.
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science
1
3%
Other
3
10%
Unknown
7
23%
Attention Score in Context
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 12. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 22 December 2022.
All research outputs
#3,027,330
of 26,316,852 outputs
Outputs from Nature Genetics
#3,389
of 7,770 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#1,135
of 25,472 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Nature Genetics
#5
of 54 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 26,316,852 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 88th percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 7,770 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 44.7. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 54% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 25,472 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 94% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 54 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 90% of its contemporaries.
