Prophylactic Oophorectomy to Reduce the Risk of Ovarian and Breast Cancer in Carriers ofBRCAMutations

Abstract

The BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes encode proteins that participate in the cellular response to DNA damage; inactivating mutations in these genes heighten susceptibility to breast and ovarian cancers. The mechanism underlying this tissue specificity is not understood, nor is it clear why mutations in these genes, which are associated with inherited cancer, are not a feature of sporadic breast cancer. The susceptibility to cancer results from the inheritance of one mutant allele of either BRCA1 or BRCA2 (autosomal dominant transmission), followed by the loss of the second allele in breast or ovarian epithelial cells (loss of heterozygosity), leading to complete . . .