Abstract
BackgroundThe incidence of breast cancer (BC) in Arab women is lower compared to the incidence in the Jewish population in Israel; still, it is the most common malignancy among Arab women. There is a steep rise in breast cancer incidence in the Arab population in Israel over the last 10 years that can be attributed to life style changes. But, the younger age of BC onset in Arab women compared with that of the Jewish population is suggestive of a genetic component in BC occurrence in that population.MethodsWe studied the family history of 31 women of Palestinian Arab (PA) origin affected with breast (n = 28), ovarian (n = 3) cancer. We used denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) to screen for mutations of BRCA1/2 in 4 women with a personal and family history highly suggestive of genetic predisposition.ResultsA novel BRCA1 mutation, E1373X in exon 12, was found in a patient affected with ovarian cancer. Four of her family members, 3 BC patients and a healthy individual were consequently also found to carry this mutation. Of the other 27 patients, which were screened for this specific mutation none was found to carry it.ConclusionWe found a novel BRCA1 mutation in a family of PA origin with a history highly compatible with BRCA1 phenotype. This mutation was not found in additional 30 PA women affected with BC or OC. Therefore full BRCA1/2 screening should be offered to patients with characteristic family history. The significance of the novel BRCA1 mutation we identified should be studied in larger population. However, it is likely that the E1373X mutation is not a founder frequent mutation in the PA population.
Highlights
The incidence of breast cancer (BC) in Arab women is lower compared to the incidence in the Jewish population in Israel; still, it is the most common malignancy among Arab women
In the present study, which follows a previous clinical and pathological analysis of a cohort of BC patients of Palestinian Arab (PA) origin [2], we focus on identifying BRCA1/2 mutations among BC/ovarian cancer (OC) PA patients with suggestive family history
In 4 patients screened for BRCA1/2 mutations, we have found one nonsense BRCA1 mutation, a G to T base change located at base 4236, which translates to a stop codon at codon 1373
Summary
The incidence of breast cancer (BC) in Arab women is lower compared to the incidence in the Jewish population in Israel; still, it is the most common malignancy among Arab women. The younger age of BC onset in Arab women compared with that of the Jewish population is suggestive of a genetic component in BC occurrence in that population. Similar results were reported for other Arab countries in the Middle East [3,4]. These characteristics of BC in the Arab population raise the need for development of screening programs for early detection and the defining of high risk individuals in that population. A recent report of the Israel Center of Disease Control showed a higher risk of BC in Arab women with family history of BC in Israel [6]
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