Does Breast Cancer Survival Have a Genetic Basis?

Little is known about the influence of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations on the natural history of breast cancer and the response to treatment. In this population-based study, investigators tested for BRCA1 and BRCA2 founder mutations in tumor samples obtained from breast cancer cases diagnosed in Israel from 1987 through 1988. Overall 10-year survival rates were evaluated in relation to mutation carrier status and ethnic origin.

Tumor specimens from Jewish women (1102 of Ashkenazi ethnicity) comprised 1748 of the 1794 tissue samples. Founder mutations were identified in 10% of Ashkenazi women, in lower percentages of non-Ashkenazi Jewish women, and in no non-Jewish women. Seventy-six Ashkenazi women carried BRCA1 mutations, and 52 Ashkenazi women c…